The Real Deal on the New Recruit
by kisa-kara-chan
Summary: One fateful day brings a princess and the team together,and things start spiralling from there. A prophecy has foretold great danger,and the team,especially Josh,is in huge trouble,and I don't mean with his father.Will they make it all out alive? OCxJosh
1. The New Recruit

**Well... here's the first chapter to the new Team Galaxy fanfiction I've created. Hope you like it! And hope that none of the Canon characters are too OCC-ish!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy, chapter title name (c) Marathon and respective Producers  
Claimer: Emma, Alasparx, etc. (c) me**

**ps. The name of this chapter also I took from the first Episode of Team Galaxy, so it doesn't belong to me either. Also, April Fools Finn and other such popular fanfictions will be updated later on this (or next, and next next week) at some point.**

* * *

Chapter One: The New Recruit

"So... are you ready for this Josh?" Mr. Fitch inquired, tipping his infamous white cowboy hat.

The 16-year-old teen looked nervous. "Um... yes, Mr. Fitch," he replied, "I-I think I'm ready for the test."

Bobby, another student training to be a space marshal at Galaxy High, laughed out loud. "Oh yeah, I can see you're just _dying_ to get your butt kicked," he taunted.

Josh rolled his dark eyes and got onto the bike, slipping on the virtual helmet. _I can do this, I can do this,_ he thought confidently.

Suddenly, the bell rang!

_Yes!_ Josh thought, sliding off the helmet, _Saved by the lunch bell! _"Sorry, Mr. Fitch, I guess we'll have to wait till tomorrow to see whether I can stand your new virtual bike path," he said with fake apology in his voice.

"You can stop faking now. We all know you were lucky to have been saved by the bell," his teammate, Yoko, scolded gently, playing with a strand of her red hair while brushing away her dyed yellow bangs.

He gave her his winning smile. "Oh don't worry about it, Yo. I'm not 'faking' my sadness," he lied smoothly.

"Sure you're not," Brett, the last member on their team, said while rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Brett," Josh said, "Hurry up, Squirt. It's time for lunch." Then he pet his ultra-pet on his head. "Come on, Fluffy. Let's go."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

As Josh and Fluffy ran out into the courtyard to cross over to the cafeteria, he accidentally ran into another person, knocking her back onto the ground.

"Oww..." she muttered, "I'm so sorry, I should have been looking where I was going."

"Ah no, that was my fault," Josh apologized, beginning to pick up her books for her.

Their hands met when they both reached for a book, and they looked up at each other. Josh found himself staring into beautiful aqua orbs. She appeared to be about 15 or 16, and she had long black hair with dark red streaks in them. She was wearing a light blue tank top under a short-sleeved blue sweater, with long black slacks.

"Um... sorry for running into you," she apologized, flushing red in embarrassment. Then when she reached for a piece of paper, she found that it had fallen into a puddle, and was soaked wet. "O-Oh dear, now how am I ever going to get around this place?" she murmured to herself.

"I-I'm so sorry about that," Josh said, handing her the books, "Are you new here at Galaxy High?"

"Y-Yes," she stammered nervously, "I just arrived here. I-I guess my timing has been really bad today. Not 5 minutes and I already run into another student."

"No, no, no! The fault is all mine," Josh said, "Here, let me help you around. It's the least I can do."

Fluffy nuzzled into her hand, and she smiled, patting the gentle ultra-pet on the head.

"I think he likes you," Josh informed, "That's his way of saying hello."

"What's his name?" she inquired, looking up at him.

"Fluffy. He's my ultra-pet," he replied.

She smiled. "Hey Fluffy," she greeted.

Josh bent down and pat the ultra-pet gently on the head. "Why don't you go on ahead, boy? Tell Yoko and Brett I'll catch up with them later," he instructed, and Fluffy nodded before running off to the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry, we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Emma. And you are?" she introduced.

"I'm Josh. It's nice to meet you," he said, smiling warmly at her.

"It's nice to meet you too," she replied, "Um... if you don't mind, I'm looking for Principal Kirkpatrick's office. I-I think he's expecting me."

"Oh, yeah, my dad tends to have his busy schedules. Do you have a student interview with him?" he said, mentally chuckling to himself as they walked to the office.

Emma gasped, "Principal Kirkpatrick is your father?!"

"Yeah," Josh replied, "So he tends to be hard on me and my team the most."

She giggled quietly. "I'm sure he means well. After all, his reputation would be at stake," she told him.

"So should I be seeing you in my classes later on today?" he asked curiously, wanting to see her again.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. My enrolment in Galaxy High is... complicated," she admitted enigmatically.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, "I'm sure it can't be _that_ complicated."

Emma sighed and shook her head as they entered the office. "I'm afraid so," she replied.

Josh's father, Principal Kirkpatrick, sat at his desk overlooking the school courtyard. He brushed a hand through his grey hair and stood up with a smile on his face. "You must be Emma Stiles. It's nice to finally meet you," he greeted warmly.

"I-It's nice to meet you too, Principal Kirkpatrick," she replied, shaking his hand.

"Hi dad," Josh said casually.

"Hello Josh," Kirkpatrick said, raising an eyebrow, "What are you doing here?"

Emma quickly covered up for him. "Oh, uh, Josh was just bringing me here over to your office, sir," she explained, "I ran into him on my way over."

Principal Kirkpatrick nodded in approval. "Thank you, Josh. That was very kind of you to do that," he said, "Now, off to lunch with you. I have much to discuss with Emma here."

"Thanks, Josh," Emma thanked, giving him a warm smile, "I'll see you later."

He nodded. "See you," he said, leaving the room.

"Emma, please, take a seat," Principal Kirkpatrick offered, motioning to the seat in front of his desk.

She sat down and he looked at her. "So, you know that I know that you don't really need the education we offer here, because of all of your past experiences. But, you wish to enrol here anyway?" he inquired.

She nodded. "Yes, I have practiced and learned to control my powers so now I want to use them to help," she replied confidently.

"Does Josh know about your powers?" the principal asked.

Emma shook her head. "No. He's a good kid, I can see," she told him, "I think he has quite a lot of potential."

He nodded slowly, thinking. "Hmmm... yes, I _do_ send his team on a lot of missions," he said, "Would you mind if I put you with his team? I'm sure Josh doesn't mind having an extra teammate."

She dipped her head, smiling. "Sure. I think it might be fun," she replied, "When do I start?"

"I'll call them in," he said, pressing a button on his computer, "Josh, get you and your team in my office immediately. There's something important I wish to talk to you about," he ordered.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Meanwhile, Josh had run off to the cafeteria to meet his teammates and his friends.

"Fluffy told us you'd be late," Brett said, "Something about a new girl."

"Ooh... Did you show her around?" Yoko teased, "Was she cute?"

Josh smiled. "Yeah, she's cute. A bit timid, but I'm sure she's just shy. Yeah, I took her to my dad's office," he explained, patting Fluffy on the head, "I know Fluffy likes her, don't you, Boy?"

He hummed quietly in agreement, smiling while wagging his tail.

"When will we be meeting her?" Brett inquired, "What's her name?"

"Her name is Emma Stiles, and she's in my dad's office right now," Josh replied.

Brett's green eyes widened. "D-Did you just say 'Emma Stiles'?" he gasped.

Both Josh and Yoko blinked at him.

"Do you _know_ her, Brett?" Yoko inquired, "A former acquaintance? Have we met her before on a mission?"

"No!" he scolded in reply, "Emma Stiles is the Princess of the planet Alasparx in the Alpha-Delta Quadrant. She has powers beyond imagination! She also has these fairy wings in which she can fly around with!"

Both his teammates burst into laughter.

"Fairy wings?! Oh yeah, you've been reading too many fairy tales, Squirt," Josh laughed, "Believe me, I _saw_ her. No fairy wings."

"Idiot!" Brett snapped, "They only appear when she wants them too. She could turn you into a frog if she wanted to!"

"R-Right..." Yoko replied, trying to calm herself down.

Suddenly, Principal Kirkpatrick's image came up on the big screen next to the cafeteria menu. "Josh, get you and your team in my office immediately. There's something important I wish to talk to you about," he said.

"On it, chief," Josh replied, and he and his team immediately ran over to the principal's office.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxX

Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy ran into Principal Kirkpatrick's office.

"What's the new mission, dad?" Josh inquired as he and his team lined up.

Emma stood up from her chair and looked at him and the others.

"Josh, I'm assigning the Princess of Alasparx, Emma Stiles to your team. She'll be joining immediately, and so I'm sure you will all get along fine. She'll be in all of your classes, though there will be a few times when she will be absent, for she does not actually need to concern herself with your classes," Principal Kirkpatrick explained, "I'm sure you'll all get along fine. See to it that she's settled in. That's it for now. You're all dismissed."

"Yes sir!" Josh, Yoko and Brett exclaimed.

"Thanks for your help, Principal Kirkpatrick," Emma thanked.

He grinned. "It's not a problem. If there are any problems, don't be afraid to let me know," he said.

She dipped her head and followed her new team out.

"So it seems we're going to be seeing more of each other than we thought," Josh commented, smiling at Emma.

She smiled in return. "So it seems we are," she replied.

"Oh my gosh," Yoko said, "It's _sooo _nice to finally have another girl on the team. I'm Yoko, karaoke queen."

Brett bowed. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I'm Brett, the brains on the team," he introduced.

"Oh please, don't bow," Emma replied, "We're all friends here. It's nice to meet you guys. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun." _Except with the fact that lots of people are out to kill me,_ she thought grimly, _hopefully it doesn't put the rest of you in danger._

"So..." Josh began, "According to the Squirt here, you have fairy wings to fly. Is this true? Or is it some joke that Brett made up?"

She grinned. "It's true," she said, closing aqua eyes and focusing.

Suddenly, a pair of transparent shiny wings appeared on her upper back, gleaming with fairy dust. They fluttered, and Emma floated a few inches off the ground.

"Amazing!" Brett exclaimed, turning to Josh and Yoko, "See! I wasn't lying!"

Yoko's eyes widened. "That is so cool! So everything Brett said was true!" she said.

"Yep," she replied, brushing away black bangs and letting her wings fade away, "I can also use magic."

"You really _are_ the real deal here," Josh said.

"Of course she is," Yoko said, "Now, I'll take you to your room. It's next to my own and Josh's and Brett's."

Josh took Emma's books out of her hands. "Here. I'll take these," he said, grinning somewhat flirtatiously.

"Thanks," she thanked gratefully, smiling as she followed Yoko to her new room.

xXxXxXXxXxXXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When they arrived, they found the room empty with the exception of two suitcases sitting at the foot of the bed.

Emma cocked her head and smiled, waving her hand. Instantly, her suitcases opened and her clothes began to fly from them and insert themselves into her shelves and drawers.

"Wow... you really know your stuff," Brett said, amazed at the display, "Is there anything else you can do?"

She giggled. "I'm somewhat of a singer, somewhat of a cook, an excellent driver, for both a motorcycle and a spacecraft, and I enjoy a good book once in a while," she replied, "Otherwise I like to chill out and try not to be too stressed out over schoolwork, so I'm somewhat of a slacker."

Josh grinned. "Me, I'm a _professional_ slacker, and proud of it too," he bragged.

"Yeah," Brett agreed, "Principal K sometimes has no idea what to do with him."

Emma laughed. "Come on, I think out afternoon classes are going to start soon," she said.

"Oh no," Brett disagreed, "Classes don't start for another 20 minutes."

"Unless a mission comes up, of course," Yoko reasoned, "And that's been happening quite often for the last little while."

As if on cue, Principal K's picture came up on the small screen on the wall. "Josh, get your team assembled and meet me at the Hornet Bay. You've got a new mission."

"Good call, Yo," Josh noted.

"Let's go," Brett said, and they ran down to the prep room, where they changed into their uniforms, Emma's being a light blue colour.

They saw Principal Kirkpatrick standing by their Hornet, his arms behind his back.

"Josh, you and your team are heading over to Alasparx in the Alpha-Delta Quadrant. It seems that the people there have requested our help," he said, shooting a grave look at Emma, "I have a bad feeling about this, marshals, so be careful."

"Yes, sir," they said, and hurried into their hornet. Emma quickly waved her hand and created a seat for her right over Josh's seat, and Brett quickly set in their planned coordinates.

"Okay, let's go," Emma said, her eyes grave.

"You drive," Josh told her, "It's your planet, and you should drive."

She nodded gravely and swapped seats, and she started up the Hornet, activating the thrusters.

They flew off, and once they exited Earth's atmosphere, Emma put the pedal to the metal and drove at warp-speed to her home planet.

* * *

**Well... Hope you like it so far! tell me how you like it! Hope none of the characters are too OCC-ish. If so, please tell me who and how to fix it. Thanks!**

**Please review and I'll update!**


	2. Not All As It Seems

**Okay, well... here's the next chapter for those who like this story (aka. ShiningGalaxy as of so far notice. :D Thanks ShiningGalaxy!). **

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon and respective owners  
Claimer: Anything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Two: Not All As It Seems

Emma cautiously landed the Hornet on the green planet, and hesitated before getting out of the driver's seat. "Come on, let's go. But be careful, I have a feeling something's wrong," she said.

Josh laid a hand on her arm. "It's okay. Come on, let's hurry and find out what's going on," he told her.

Hurriedly but cautiously, they all climbed out of the Hornet and looked around. They had landed at the edge of a city, and large green trees surrounded them. The sun shone brightly above them and clear blue skies were seen. A large stone castle could be seen in the center of a huge town just inside a large stone wall.

"It seems quiet," Yoko commented.

Emma pulled and activated her laser blade, holding it up with both hands in a defensive position. "Something's wrong. It shouldn't be so quiet," she said.

Suddenly, an arrow flew from out of nowhere and Emma deflected it with her blade. "Duck!" she shouted, and they all immediately dropped to the ground as dozens of arrows flew overhead. Dozens of guards leaped out from various bushes and surrounded them within seconds.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Emma demanded.

"Princess, please come with us. Our master wishes to see you," one of the guards said.

"Who would be your master?" Brett asked.

"Master Christopher," the guard replied.

"He has no business on our planet," Emma hissed in reply.

"He is, as he is now ruler of Alasparx. But all he needs now is his queen, you," another guard said before knocking her out with a blast from his staff.

Swiftly, Josh caught her in his arms, his blue eyes filled with worry. "Emma!" he exclaimed, holding her against him protectively.

"Oh man... we're in trouble..." Brett sighed, trying to stay calm.

"Josh! What do we do?!" Yoko exclaimed, beginning to panic.

Before he could answer, all three were blasted unconscious, and collapsed to the floor.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Josh's eyes fluttered open and he found himself in a large grey room, lying upon a large fluffy bed. He turned to see that Yoko and Brett were also lying upon large fluffy beds. Fluffy was curled up at the foot of his bed. He looked to find himself have changed back into normal clothing instead of his uniform. He was wearing his lucky brown leather jacket with his red t-shirt, and old worn out jeans. Brett was in his normal blue, green and yellow getup, and Yoko was in her normal karaoke-worthy clothes. He looked on the tabletop near him and found all of their weapons on it.

Well... at least my team is safe, he thought, well... not all of them. Where's Emma? Where did they take her?

He looked over and shook Yoko gently by her shoulders. "Hey, Yo, wake up," he muttered.

"W-W-Wha? What?! Where am I?!" she exclaimed, snapping up.

"It's okay, I think we're inside that huge castle," Josh replied, "Brett and Fluffy are safe with us."

"W-Where's Emma?" Yoko asked worriedly, her golden eyes sparkling.

Josh's blue eyes dimmed. "I-I don't know," he admitted, "They must have taken her somewhere."

Suddenly, Brett snapped up and shouted, "Don't hurt me!" Then he realized where he was and looked at his teammates. "Um... H-Hi guys. Where are we?" he asked.

"I think we're inside the castle," Josh told him, "We've got to find Emma and get out of here. Or at least call backup or something. I think we'll need help on this mission."

Brett grabbed his wrist computer off the table and tried to send out a distress signal back to Galaxy High. "We don't have a signal," he informed the team, "They must have blocked out our communications."

"So now what should we do?" Yoko exclaimed.

"Find Emma, get out of here, and wait for backup to come," Josh listed, "Either that or find Emma and get back to Galaxy High as fast as we can."

"I like the second plan better," Brett said.

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual here," Yoko agreed worriedly, "Come on, let's hurry up and get out of here. We can take that door over there." She pointed to the wooden door on the west side of the room, across from a glass window, overlooking a guard-filled courtyard.

Josh bent down and began to shake his ultra-pet. "Come on, Fluffy, wake up, boy. We've got to go," he said.

The ultra-pet rose his head and blinked at his master before whimpering quietly.

"I know, boy, but we've got to get out of here," he replied.

They grabbed their gear and armed themselves. They opened the door and looked carefully for traps and security cameras, as well as guards.

"Clear," Brett affirmed, and they quietly made their way down the hall, watching carefully in case they heard the footsteps of guards.

Suddenly, they heard a round of loud, heavy footsteps, and luckily, the nearest door to them was unlocked.

"Hurry, get inside," Yoko urged, and they quietly burst in through the door and closed it after them.

They pulled out their weapons as their eyes surveyed their new surroundings. Fluffy suddenly purred and ran over to the foot of a bed, leaping onto it and nuzzling against the hand of a girl wearing a long light-blue dress. It was simple, with no sleeves and a v-shaped neckline. A blue crystal flower pendant hung from a long golden chain around her neck.

"Emma!" Josh exclaimed, holstering his blaster and heading to her side. He was surprised at how beautiful and elegant she looked in her dress, and her weapons were sitting on her bedside. He propped her upright against his shoulder and shook her gently. "Emma, Emma, wake up," he stated, taking note of her sweet jasmine scent.

Her aqua eyes fluttered upon and met his blue ones. "J-Josh? I-I just drank that... oh..." she said, realizing.

"Sleeping pills?" Brett guessed.

"Yeah," she confirmed, "Argh... I was just stupid enough to drink that water Christopher gave me. I don't know why, something just came over me."

"Why are you so cold?" Josh inquired worriedly, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Cold?" she asked, before noticing that she was slightly shivering, "O-Oh..."

Brett went over to them and did a brief and quick scan of Emma's body temperature. "It seems there's some minor cold virus in you. Either you caught a cold, or there was something in that water that's doing this to you."

Josh held her closer against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "Here, I'll keep you warm," he reassured, tucking her head under his chin.

"Y-Yoko," Emma breathed, shuddering slightly, "If you look in my closet, you should find a dark blue sweater in there. Grab that for me, would you please?"

The 15-year-old karaoke marshal obeyed and got her the dark blue coat, handing it to here. "Here, this should help."

"T-Thanks," she chattered, slipping on the sweater.

"Why are you wearing that dress anyway?" Brett implored, "It's not very helpful if you're trying to escape."

"Christopher threatened me that either I wear this dress he brought for me, or else he kills all of you and the trapped citizens of Alasparx. I couldn't let that happen. I've got to protect my people, and my team," she explained, her aqua eyes dim.

Fluffy nuzzled into her hand.

"Did this Christopher hurt you in any way?" Yoko asked, worry dancing in her golden eyes.

She shook her head in reply. "No, well... not yet. He wants to get information out of me, and he'll get to me through you guys, so you've got to get off this planet and get back to Galaxy High," she told them.

"But how about you?" Josh implored, not liking where the conversation was going.

She looked him directly in the eyes and said, "I'll have to stay here. Look, all of you are in danger, especially you, Josh. I can't explain everything now, but Brett, when you get back to Galaxy High, go on my laptop in my room and when it asks for a password, type in, '06849485Sparx', and it'll get you in. Find the file that says 'Emergency Folder', and you'll find all the information and answers you'll need there."

"06849485Sparx, got it," Brett confirmed, memorizing that password in his large brain.

"But what will happen to you? We can't just leave you here!" Yoko reasoned, her eyes wide.

Emma stood up, slipping out of Josh's arms and letting her straight black hair fall around her shoulders. "You have to. I'll try to find my own way out of here, but I have to make sure you four are safe first. I'll take you as far as the Hornet, but from there, you've got to escape on your own. Chris will most likely have caught up with us and I'll have no choice but to stop him there," she ordered, "We've got to go now before Chris discovers that you've gone from your room and that I'm gone too." She wrapped her brown weapons belt around her waist against the blue fabric of her dress.

They carefully opened the door and slipped out. Hurriedly, they made their way down the hall and Josh made sure that the hall was empty before they went through.

"Get us to a window, I've got an idea," Emma suddenly whispered to Josh.

"What's your plan?" Yoko inquired.

She grinned. "I hope you aren't afraid of heights," she said.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When they arrived at a window, Brett looked outside and confirmed that there were no guards below.

"Okay, now what?" Yoko implored.

Emma pulled out a slender flute from her weapons belt, and softly began to play a high, sweet melody. Within a few seconds, four large, light yellow birds flew towards them and hovered just underneath the windowsill.

"That's crazy!" Brett hissed, eyes widening.

"Emma, how is this possible? Do you know these birds?" Josh asked her.

She put away the flute and carefully leaped upon one of the birds' backs, half-ignoring his question. "I'll explain later, yes, I do know these birds, they're my friends. Just get on and they'll take us to the Hornet. We're running out of time."

Without another word, they obeyed and leaped onto the backs of the feathery creatures. Then they were flown back to their red and white Hornet, still parked at where they were first attacked. Suddenly, they heard loud sirens and knew that they were now being hunted. When the birds left them nearby their Hornet, they saw dozens and dozens of guards running towards them, weapons drawn.

As they neared, Josh drew out his blaster but set it to a different mode. "Dazzler Mode." The bright light temporarily stunned the guards and Emma kept trying to badger them onto the Hornet.

"Come on, hurry up," she badgered.

Brett, Yoko and Fluffy already hurried onto the Hornet, and Josh hesitated as he stood beside Emma.

"Come on, Josh, you've got to go!" she pushed, "Before Chris gets here."

"I-I can't bring myself to leave you," he admitted.

"Josh," she said sternly, "the moment you get back to Galaxy High, tell Principal K my situation and to keep an alert out for me. If I don't manage to get back safely in two days, something bad has probably happened to me. Just go, now!"

He forced himself to run into the Hornet and they closed the hatch, Emma standing back.

Without warning, a dark-haired man fazed into view and dozens of guards were with him. His golden eyes blazed with fury and most of the guards were archers.

"Go! Now!" Emma yelled, and Josh started up the Hornet and it lifted off the ground, creating a whirlwind of dust, covering the small area.

"Fire!" Chris ordered, and the archers released their arrows, and the team's Hornet just flew out of range, but unfortunately, Emma was not so lucky.

When the dust cleared, they all saw Emma lying on the ground, her body motionless, various arrows jotting out from her body. Her aqua eyes were closed and her hand was limp. Blood began to pool around the wounds she received, and already spots on her dress began to be soaked with blood. Chris began to run over to her, as well as the many guards.

No... Emma... Josh thought, hesitating to leave her. But he knew he had no choice. There was the rest of the team to think about. He had to keep them safe and take them back to Galaxy High. With a heavy heart, he drove at warp-speed and left the green planet, as well as a fellow team member behind.

"They're not following us," Yoko confirmed, looking at her radar screen.

"Hornet Number One to Galaxy High, reporting," Brett said into the communication device, "Reporting danger on Alasparx. Returning now to Galaxy High. I repeat, returning now to Galaxy High."

I swore to myself that I'd never leave a team member behind, Josh thought grimly, swerving around various asteroids, And now... that team member may not ever make it back to Galaxy High... alive...

* * *

**If any of you are wondering, most to all things will be clarified in the next chapter mostly. :D **

**Please review!**


	3. The Truth

**okay, so here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy it! **

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon and respective owners  
Claimer: Everything and anything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Three: The Truth

"Welcome back, Hornet #1," the guy at the communications greeted.

As Josh landed the Hornet near the bay, they saw Principal Kirkpatrick standing nearby, a grave expression on his face, his arms behind his back.

As they exited the spacecraft, they kept their eyes downcast and averted the eyes of the former commander.

"Welcome back, team. I heard about your distress call," he greeted formally. Then he noticed something strange. "Where's Emma Stiles?" he asked.

Both Brett and Yoko looked at Josh, unsure of what to say.

Josh met the eyes of his father and said, "She's back on Planet Alasparx. She sacrificed her own safety to save us. It seems there was more to the problem than we expected, and we were unable to complete our mission because of our lack of knowledge on the situation."

He heard his father sigh before saying, "Tell me everything."

The three marshals quickly summarized what had happened, and they found it rather difficult to tell of Emma's injuries.

When they finished their tale, Principal Kirkpatrick exhaled deeply. "If she does not return to Galaxy High by two days time, we have no choice but to presume her dead. There is little chance that she survived that arrow attack, more or less escape the planet with her injuries," he announced.

"We knew that Galaxy High regulation code 4376.32 specifically states that you never leave a marshal behind, but we had no choice, Sir," Brett said, "Emma demanded us to leave and save ourselves. Or else she wouldn't have risked her own life to save us."

"I request that we send a retrieval team to save Princess Emma," Josh said.

Principal K looked at him gravely. "Request denied. It's too dangerous. I don't want to cause any more casualties for our school. I'm sorry Josh, but there's nothing more we can do for her except hope and pray."

The 16-year-old teen silently clenched a fist as he saw Emma's cold, broken body on the ground in his mind's eye.

"She'll be alright, Josh," Yoko reassured, squeezing his hand tightly.

Brett forced a smile in agreement. "Yeah, Yoko's right. Emma's a resourceful girl. She'll come up with some way to get out of there."

"Josh..." Principal K began cautiously, "Do you have... feelings for Emma?"

"I-I don't know, dad. I'm just worried about my teammate, I guess," he admitted honestly, not willing to meet his father's eyes.

Hmm... Seems suspicious... Brett thought. Then he said, "In any case, please alert us if there is any word on the Princess."

The former commander dipped his head. "Yes, I'll alert your team in case there is any word. I'll also alert the guards so they let her in safely, same goes for the spacing patrols," he told them, "Until two days time, your team is relieved from any new missions and are not to leave Galaxy High grounds under any conditions. You are all dismissed."

"Yes sir!" They all exclaimed before leaving the Hornet Bay.

"Come on, guys, let's head over to Emma's room and figure out what's going on," Brett suggested, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When they arrived, Josh breathed in the familiar floral scent. I hope you're okay, he thought hopefully.

Brett sat on the purple chair and turned on her laptop, and waited momentarily as it loaded up. When it got onto the next screen, it had a little icon with the name "Emma" on it. He clicked on the icon and it loaded up another screen, where they had to type in the password.

"What was the password again?" Yoko asked, trying to think hard.

"06849485Sparx," Brett replied confidently, typing it in. When he hit 'ENTER', a starry wallpaper came up, and the folder of 'Emergency Folder' caught their eyes.

"Nice job, Squirt," Josh complimented, patting the 10-year-old's shoulder, "Now, let's see what's really going on."

Brett double-clicked the file and it opened to dozens of files. The first one was labelled, 'READ FIRST: Prophecy and Additional Info'.

"I think it's obvious we read that first," Yoko noted, and Brett opened the document.

"Whoa, it's like... some sort of prophecy," Josh said.

Brett rolled his eyes. "That's why the file was labelled 'prophecy'," he retorted obviously.

The file read:

"The Prophecy of the Alphaspark

There will be two,

One the champion, and one with blood,

From that the Alphaspark within awakens.

The Alphaspark's life will find danger,

And the one with blood will attempt to save them.

Success or fail, soon it will be seen.

Blood be guaranteed to be spilled on this quest.

But from great power comes great responsibility,

And great power also comes grave danger.

Both will be hunted, but the champion(Alphaspark) has the help of three,

As the blood has one of fellow blood,

In which he may be found on the blue, watery planet of Earth.

But truly, can the Alphaspark save both worlds?

Or will the one of royal blood die to save another?"

"Okay, that's just really creepy," Josh commented, "Not to mention rather depressing."

"Wait, there's a little more. I suspect its Emma's notes and guesses on the prophecy," Brett said, scrolling down before gasping.

"What?! What does it say?!" Yoko exclaimed.

"It says that the Alphaspark is Josh..." Brett breathed, his eyes wide, "Josh is the Alphaspark of this prophecy!"

"What?!" Josh yelled, his eyes scanning the screen, "Oh man, you're right. And it says that Emma is the other of royal blood. Chris is the one hunting us. No wonder Emma said that I'd be especially in danger."

"B-But," Yoko began with a stammer, "Didn't the prophecy say that the one with royal blood might die?"

"Which is why we need to make sure she's alright," Josh retorted.

Brett leaned back on the purple chair. "But Principal Kirkpatrick forbade us to leave Galaxy High grounds," he disagreed, "And we can't go back to Alasparx without backup. It's suicide if we do! We barely made it out alive last time."

The 16-year-old rebel gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing the younger marshal was correct. "But we've got to do something," he reasoned, "Come on, Brett. Think! Isn't there anything we can do to help Emma?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. All we can do now is arm ourselves with knowledge in case Emma returns," he told them.

"When Emma returns, you mean," Yoko corrected sternly, earning a grateful look from Josh.

"R-Right," Brett corrected himself, "When Emma returns, right. Sorry, I forgot how resourceful she was."

"So who is this Christopher anyway?" Josh asked.

The 10-year-old closed the prophecy document and opened up another document with the label "Christopher Richands."

"Christopher Richands, lord and ruler of the neighbouring planet of Veralix, also in the Alpha-Delta Quadrant. He also appears to have powerful magic and so his powers and Emma's are equally matched. Veralix used to be at war against Alasparx, but the arranged engagement of Christopher and Emma supposedly ensured peace between the two planets," Brett explained, reading the information Emma organized for them, "Emma says that she didn't like the engagement, but she knew she had to do it for her people and for the good of her planet."

"That's terrible to have to be in an arranged marriage that you don't like," Yoko commented, "I can imagine how I would feel about that, more or less how Emma feels about it. She just wants to protect and save her people."

"Chris apparently has fallen for Emma, but she doesn't feel the same. She feels distain for him, and she knows that he's bad news for her planet," Brett mentioned.

Josh's fist clenched. "Who knows what he could be doing to her now? She's all alone, and her powers may be overwhelmed by Chris'," he growled.

"Don't worry," Yoko reassured, placing a hand over his fist, trying to help him relax, "She'll be alright."

"I hope so, Yo," he hoped, exhaling deeply, turning back to Brett, "Does Emma have any profiles of possible allies?"

He scanned the names of all the various files in the folder and found one particular document interesting. "Yeah, Aaron Stiles," he said, opening up the document, "Emma's older brother, and the true ruler of Alasparx. Apparently he left 6 months ago, when Emma was 15 and he had just turned 18, and hasn't been seen since. Emma's been tracking him down, or at least, trying to, but had no success. He has more powerful magic than she does, and cares deeply for his little sister."

He showed them Aaron's picture. He was an 18-year-old teen with short, scruffy black hair and deep blue eyes, a shade darker than Emma's.

"Wow... he's pretty cute," Yoko noted, finding that his eyes were charming, even though it was just a picture.

"If we find him, we may be able to have an edge over Chris," Josh brainstormed, "If it should ever get to that point."

"Let's hope not," Brett said, gulping as the image came to his mind's eye, "None of us would be able to stand a chance. We don't have amazing powers and magic like they do. We wouldn't be able to do much, except become a liability."

"Do you think you're able to find him, Brett? I think he might be able to give us some answers," Yoko inquired.

Suddenly, they heard the room door open. "Don't have to, I'm right here," a male voice said.

They all turned to see an 18-year-old teen standing with his hands in his pockets of his dark brown slacks, short scruffy black hair, and grave, deep blue eyes. He had a black t-shirt and wore a silver chain around his neck, with a golden heart locket on it.

"Y-You're..." Brett breathed.

He grinned. "Yep, I'm Aaron Stiles, prince of Alasparx and older brother to Emma Stiles," he introduced, "Speaking of Emma, I heard from Principal Kirkpatrick that my younger sister was in deep trouble."

"Oh my gosh!" Yoko exclaimed, jumping over and shaking his hand furiously, "It's so nice to meet you!"

He chuckled, "It's, um, nice to meet you guys too. I've been meaning to meet my sister's new team."

"I remember you," Josh said suddenly, "You were on the front cover of that motorcycle magazine, but under the name-"

"Ronald Lester," Aaron finished, "Yeah that was my cover-up. Glad Emma didn't recognize me, either that or she did but had no idea where to start looking for me."

"But why did you use an alias?" Brett asked the 18-year-old.

He sighed deeply. "Emma had brilliant strategies and tactics for battle, but no one would listen to her except me. They, the generals I mean, still imagined her as a young immature girl, so they wouldn't take her seriously. So I thought that if I left and she became ruler, the generals would finally listen to her. Ever since our parents disappeared 6 years ago, and I became ruler of Alasparx, it forced Emma to grow up faster than I ever wanted her to. Didn't expect things would turn out like this though," he explained.

"Wow..." Yoko mouthed, "It's not your fault. By the way, I'm Yoko, and this is Josh, Brett, and Fluffy."

"Nice to meet you all," Aaron replied. Then he stared particularly at Josh. "So... you're that kid from the prophecy, huh? You're the Alphaspark? Hmm... You'd better not fail, or else my little sister is going to die, you hear me?"

He nodded. "Yes, I won't fail," he promised.

Aaron grinned somewhat playfully. "Good, now that that's settled, is there anything you want to know about myself, Emma, Alasparx or Chris?" he asked, easily drawing the subject away from the prophecy.

"When is Chris planning to marry Emma?" Josh implored, his face hard.

"Two nights after Emma turns 18, so about a year and a month away," Aaron replied without hesitation, "I'm more than keen on getting her away from him and allow her to marry whoever she truly loves, and loves her in return. My sister is a tender soul. Her heart would break if she married Christopher."

"Well, a lot can happen in a year and a month," Yoko said optimistically.

"That's true. We can probably save her by then," Brett said sarcastically, then shouted angrily, "Of course we will!"

"Now I've got a question for you," she said to Aaron, "Though I guess it's rather personal, but... do you have a girlfriend?"

He laughed, "Afraid not. Used to have a cutie from Earth, but then she left because of family problems. Then again, I had to go into hiding from Emma. Not really looking for a girlfriend right now though, sorry. Right now I'm more focused on protecting my little sister from a ruler who's after her."

"And we're trying to protect the Princess of Alasparx, our friend and teammate, from some psycho ruler that's trying to wed her," Josh added grimly.

Aaron laughed, "You got that right. Now, there's not much that we can do here, so all I can do is arm you guys with knowledge, and you guys need to hope that Emma returns safely. Deal?"

"Deal," all three said in union, and Fluffy barked in agreement.

* * *

**Please Review! Much appreciated!**

* * *


	4. The Return

**So... here's the next chapter for those who like this fanfiction! Please enjoy! Please R&R!**

**btw, don't worry. after tomorrow I'll have lots of time to work on 'April Fools Finn', 'Curing the Controlled', and plus most likely I'll post up the prologue of my other new fanfic. If not, tomorrow for sure.**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: Anything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Four: The Return

Two days passed by quickly, and still... Emma did not return to Galaxy High, which made the team (and Aaron), worry. It was near midnight now, and Josh was talking with Aaron in Emma's room.

"She should have returned by now... It's almost midnight," Josh murmured, pacing.

"She's probably just taken a side-trip or something," Aaron reassured, sitting on her bed, "She'll be alright. I just know it."

The younger teen didn't look very reassured, and so Aaron sighed, "Don't worry Josh. Get some sleep, maybe she'll turn up in the morning."

He sighed in reply and nodded, bidding the older Stiles, 'good night' before heading off to his and Brett's room, where he found the Squirt sitting at his computer.

"You should be getting some sleep, Brett," Josh told him, "What are you doing anyway?"

"Searching to see whether any spaceships have left Alasparx in the last 24 hours," he replied, his eyes not leaving the computer.

"Got anything?" he inquired, his blue eyes hopeful.

"I'm afraid not," the 10-year-old replied, shutting off his computer, "So from the prophecy, Emma is the one with royal blood, you're both the champion and the Alphaspark, and the three helping the Alphaspark is me, Yoko and Fluffy. Also, Aaron is the one helping Emma, seeing as they are of the same blood, and there's a risk of Emma dying if you should fail saving both worlds. Or... did that mean that Emma will die anyway at some point during the time this prophecy is taking place? Ugh... so much to think and sort out."

"I know.... and all in two days too," Joshua added miserably.

Brett sighed, "Let's get some sleep, Josh. Maybe we'll get a hit tomorrow. You never know, anything can happen."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Just about what Aaron said," he muttered, crawling into bed.

"Well... Aaron knows what he's talking about," Brett agreed, "He is Emma's older brother, after all."

Fluffy climbed on top of the bed and nuzzled into him, trying to reassure him. Josh pat the ultra-pet on the head and looked up at the ceiling, a hand behind his head.

"Night, Josh," Brett said, shutting off the lights and getting into bed.

"Night, Brett," Josh replied as Fluffy jumped back down onto the floor and curled up on the rug. He shut his eyes and exhaled deeply, trying not to worry so much about Emma.

_What's wrong with me?_ Josh thought, _I shouldn't be worrying so much about her. She'll be alright. Her brother thinks so, and Brett thinks so too. So why can't I stop worrying? Ugh... all this thinking is giving me a headache. Maybe some sleep will help me calm down..._

_xXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx_xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Three hours later, Spavid, a fellow alien friend and marshal at Galaxy High, was doing the nightly communicator and satellite patrol when he picked up an odd distress signal from a Defender. The Defenders were the marshals' personal ships to fly in, and used when on personal missions.

_Why would there be a Defender out at this hour? It's past the rest of the marshals' curfew,_ he thought.

The signal grew stronger and he managed to connect to the Defender's communicator.

"This is Galaxy High marshal Spavid, who's in need of help?" he asked.

The weak voice croaked, "... E-Emma... Stiles... P-Please.... help me...."

Spavid blinked, remembering what Principal Kirkpatrick told him about hearing the name 'Emma Stiles'. _Tell her that's she safe to land at Galaxy High and alert Principal Kirkpatrick_, he thought quickly. "Okay, Emma, are you alone? Can you land?" he asked.

"Y-Yes... alone. I-I think I can land," she breathed, "T-There's the auto-setting on my Defender that s-should allow me to." A sharp groan and laboured breathing followed.

"Okay, your Defender has been cleared to land, please come down," Spavid told her rather professionally, "I'll alert Principal Kirkpatrick that you're coming."

The transmission had disappeared from there and Spavid pressed a button that sent his signal directly to Principal K. "Um, Principal Kirkpatrick, not to disturb you or anything, but Emma Stiles has just made contact and she's landing in a few minutes," he informed, "I also must inform you, the Princess sounds weak, and she also sounds like she's in great pain."

"Good job, marshal, I'll alert Josh's team and Prince Aaron from here," the former commander replied, "Principal K, out."

XxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Principal Kirkpatrick had fallen asleep at his desk while watching movies on his computer. He was instantly alert, and awake, when Spavid first contacted him.

_So, Emma's alive after all_, the principal thought cheerfully as he hurried out of his office towards his son's dorm room.

He rapped at the door twice, and then went to the next two doors and knocked on them too. Josh, Brett, Yoko and Aaron opened the doors, looking somewhat groggy and a bit cranky. They were all wearing their sleepwear.

"What is it, dad?" Josh asked quietly, scratching his head.

"Is this important, Principal K?" Brett added sleepily.

"Yeah," Yoko agreed, "A karaoke queen needs her beauty sleep you know."

His grey eyes lit up as he told them, "Of course this is important! Emma's made contact. She'll be here in a few minutes. But apparently, according to Spavid, she sounded weak. We'd better hurry."

Their eyes instantly widened as they completely woke up with those few sentences.

"Come on, let's go, she'll be landing by the Hornet Bay probably," Yoko urged, and they quickly ran out to see a large green-streaked Defender land on the concrete ground.

As the Defender's top opened, they all gasped.

Emma had changed back into her normal clothes from her dress, but long cuts ran along her arm, and blood trailed from a few wounds on her body. Her head was tipped to the side and she appeared to be unconscious. She looked so weak in her bruised and bloodied condition.

"Emma!" they exclaimed.

Swiftly and effortlessly, Aaron leaped onto a wing of the Defender and unbuckled his younger sister, scooping her up into his arms, holding her against him.

"Oh Emma," he whispered worriedly, "What happened to you?"

"I-Is she alive?" Brett asked in a small voice.

Aaron turned, leaping down back onto the ground. "Yes, she's alive, but badly hurt. We'd better take her to the nurse's office. Or the doctors," he said.

Josh walked over and gently touched her cheek. "We'll take her to the nurse's and get her patched up," he said.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxXxX

Quickly, they brought her over to the nurse's office, which was, by some miracle, still open, and the alien nurse, still awake. Aaron laid Emma onto the patient's bed, and clenched her hand tightly in his. The nurse forced the rest of them outside the room so they could tend to Emma's wounds.

"Oh man, this is agonizing," Brett heaved, "We just found out Emma's safe but now her health may be terrible."

"Dude, don't say that," Josh said, his voice desperate, "You make it sound terrible."

"Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to make it sound like _that_."

Yoko looked thoughtful. "I hope she's okay though," she said, "I don't know how Alasparx would manage without their princess. And I don't think that Aaron would be too pleased to rule all by himself. Actually, I think he'd be pretty pissed."

"Well... I'd be too," Josh agreed.

"Are you sure you don't have feelings for her, Josh?" Brett inquired suspiciously.

He hesitated before nodding. "I'm sure, Brett," he replied quickly before changing the question, "How could you think of that at a time like this?"

"Calm down, Joshua," Principal Kirkpatrick said, "I'm sure he means well. Anyway, Emma should recover well from her wounds."

"Yeah, they didn't _seem_ really major," Yoko agreed, "So don't worry about it."

xXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Aaron came out of the room a few minutes later and heaved a sigh. "Emma's going to be alright. I've healed most of her major wounds, and the nurse has helped me bandaged her arms and other wounds," he explained in a relieved yet strained voice, "She's awake right now, if you want to talk to her."

Kirkpatrick motioned for his son and his team to enter the premises, and they did, quietly. Only Principal Kirkpatrick remained outside.

They found Emma still lying on the patient's bed, but with bandages wrapped all over her arms, and tightly wrapped bandages around her torso. Her eyes were half-open, and she forced a small smile. "Hey guys," she whispered weakly, "Glad to see that you made it back safely."

Fluffy leaped up and nuzzled his head under her arm, and she gently stroked his head in return. He purred in amusement and joyfulness. Then he jumped off and returned by Josh's side.

"How about you?" Yoko inquired, "Are you okay? You don't _look _very okay."

"Yeah, you've worried us all," Brett agreed, "What _happened_ to you after you forced us to leave?"

"Chris... h-he... took me back to the castle, where he healed my arrow wounds... and inflicted a few of his own. I'm afraid that some other of my wounds was caused by the guards when I tried to escape," she explained weakly, grunting as pain shot through her body before she collapsed back onto the bed.

"H-Hey, take it easy," Josh chided, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You're still injured."

"I haven't much time," she said, "The poison is coursing though me faster than I thought. My time is running out."

"What poison?!" he exclaimed in shock.

Aaron chuckled gently, touching his sister's cheek with the back of his fingers, "Don't worry, I was just joking when I said that the poison was going to kill you. I've controlled the damage that the poison will have on you, and so you'll probably just be in bed and or weak for a few days. But otherwise, the poison won't kill you."

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Always taking care of me like a good big brother, are you now? Not to mention joke about the poison," she said, "But you had to leave me... before I would ask why, but now, I know..." She reopened beautiful aqua orbs and her smile widened. "You left... for me..." she breathed, "Thank you."

He kissed her gently on the forehead. "You know I love you, Emma. You're the best little sister anyone could ever ask for," he told her affectionately.

"I love you too," she murmured, smiling. Then she looked at Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy. "Did you guys read the files yet?" she asked.

They nodded.

"Oh yeah, Aaron's been helping us understand too," Brett added, grinning, "We've mainly sorted out all the new info in our heads for the past two days while we were waiting for you. You have quite a directory."

She chuckled gently. "Thanks, Brett," she said, "I appreciate the compliment. I've been recording down all of my knowledge, as well as taking notes on the important people I meet. Sooner or later I'm probably going to make a document about you three, not that I haven't started already."

"Ooh! Have you made a note that I'm the best karaoke singer in the entire _galaxy_?!" Yoko cheered excitedly.

"Yes, Yoko, I have," she replied, laughing quietly before looking at Josh, "Josh, you know that you're the prophesied Alphaspark, correct?"

He dipped his head. "I-I find it rather overwhelming, knowing that I'm suppose to save both your world and Earth," he admitted, flushing in embarrassment.

Aaron placed his hands on his hips, stand-offish. "It's either that, or Emma dies saving the life of another. And we don't even know who that 'another' is! It could even be Chris, and if that's the case, I would be _more_ than furious!" he fumed.

Josh looked down, not knowing of what to say. "I-I-I-"

Emma forced herself up into a sitting position, swinging her legs out of bed so she sat on the side. Aaron and Josh rushed to her side to keep her from falling down, and to have some people to lean against.

"Emma," Aaron warned, "You shouldn't be sitting up, you're still healing."

She smiled at him tiredly. "It's okay. My own healing magic is easing the pain and helping me. I'll be okay, though at times it seems I might have a quick fainting spell, but otherwise, like I said, I'll be alright," she assured him. Then she smiled at Josh and took his hand in her own bandaged one. "Josh, don't worry about me. If I die, I wouldn't have it any other way than losing it to save another life," she explained, "But in the meantime, I'll be here to help you along the way to succeeding in saving both our worlds."

His eyes remained worried as he pulled her against his chest, gently cradling her in a warm embrace. "Thank you. I promise I'll do all I can to protect you," he murmured to her.

"And that goes double for us," Brett agreed.

Yoko winked. "After all, there's no 'I' in 'team', right?"

Josh pressed her closer against his chest, knowing that the beautiful Princess was in grave danger. "Is Chris still after you?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded wordlessly, leaning against him. "Worse yet, he's after _you_. He knows that he's the great threat in the prophecy, and he knows that you're the only one who can stop him. He's thinking that if he manages to kill you, then there will be nothing and nobody left to stop him in taking over both Alasparx and sooner or later, Earth and the whole entire galaxy."

"And so that means that _you're_ the galaxy's only hope. _We're_ only here to help along the way," Aaron added, "So you'd better not fail, Joshua Kirkpatrick. In the meantime, I'll keep my lovely sister Princess Emma safe from Chris' clutches, because, well... Emma will explain."

They all looked at Emma and waited patiently for her to begin. She pulled away from Josh's embrace and looked at him with sad eyes.

Then she sighed rather depressingly, "Chris thinks that he can get to you through me. He thinks you have some sort of feelings for me after he saw you hesitate after I was hit by the arrows, according to him anyway. He thinks that you've fallen for me, and he's, quote, 'not willing to lose me to some mediocre marshal from Galaxy High'. He's really ticked off by you, Josh."

"_Mediocre_?!" Josh exclaimed, taken aback.

"So what should we do about it then?" Yoko inquired, "Should Josh and Emma both stay on Galaxy High grounds at all times? They _are_ the two that are in danger."

"Then again..." Brett began, a grin creeping onto his face, "I have an idea. Perhaps Josh and Emma should pretend to be going out, and lead Chris into a trap."

Aaron shrugged. "We'll think about that in the morning, in the meantime, Josh, Emma, I'm afraid the two of you will have to sleep in the same room. Josh, you'll sleep in Emma's room. I'll create another bed so that you can sleep in. There is no point of moving all of your stuff in there, so I suppose you'll go back and forth from both rooms. It's much more easier and safer if you both are staying with each other. We can all get to you faster and Emma can stand up to Chris if comes the case."

Both of them blushed, looking away from each other, but neither one of them protested.

"Excellent! It's decided then!" Brett exclaimed cheerfully, finding that it was the perfect opportunity to get Josh and Emma together.

"Okay, come on Emma, I'll help you get into bed," Aaron announced, picking her up in his arms and holding her against him.

"Good night guys," Emma said, her arms around her brother's neck, "Get some sleep. It's pretty late already. I'm sure Principal K will let you guys sleep in and excuse us all from morning classes."

"Good night. Hope you sleep well," they said.

Fluffy and Josh followed Aaron out where Principal Kirkpatrick was still pacing outside.

"Emma, thank goodness you're alright," he sighed.

She smiled. "Can't get rid of me that easily," she replied hotly, "Don't worry about me. I'll be better in a few days. Just need some rest and let these wounds heal."

Kirkpatrick turned to his son. "Josh, I'm excusing you and your team from your classes. I'm giving you a new mission; Protect and watch over Emma. Take good care of her and don't let her out of your sight," he ordered, "Not to mention all of them protecting you."

He saluted him. "Yes sir!" he exclaimed, "Night dad."

"Good night son. Good night Your Highnesses," he replied, and they left.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Aaron placed Emma on her bed, pulling the covers over her. "Night little sister," he whispered, kissing her gently on the forehead. With two fingers he created a bed a few meters beside hers and smiled at Josh in approval.

"Good night, Aaron," she sighed, closing her eyes.

He gave a nod over to Josh and Fluffy before exiting the room and closing it behind him. Fluffy leaped onto Emma's bed and gently nuzzled her cheek, making her chuckle and open her eyes, patting the ultra-pet on the head. Josh sat on the side of Emma's bed, and smiled at her.

"I-I'm glad that you're okay," he told her quietly, blue eyes glittering.

She smiled in return. "And I'm glad that the rest of you made it out of Alasparx safely. I'm not quite sure what Chris would do if he had you guys, but I was sure it wasn't going to be good," she replied, "I've got to do all I can to protect the Alphaspark, even if it costs me my life. Even though my duty as princess of Alasparx sometimes prevent me from doing stupid things, my duty as Guardian and Protector of the Alphaspark changes things. Aaron is strongly against me being the Guardian of the Alphaspark, seeing as I am also one of Chris' targets, but... well... not everything always goes as plan."

"I'll do my best to protect you too," Josh swore, "and I'm sure Fluffy will help too."

The ultra-pet barked in agreement, wagging his long robotic tail.

She giggled. "Thanks guys," she said, yawning, "Good night." She shut her aqua eyes and pulled the blankets closer.

"Good night, Emma," Josh whispered, gently placing a kiss on her cheek. Fluffy jumped off the bed and curled up on the circular red and blue rug on the floor, and Josh quietly turned off the lights and snaked into his bed, looking over at Emma once more before sighing in relief and closing his eyes. _Hmmm... So what do I feel towards Emma? Everyone seems to think I have a crush on her or something. But they know I suck when it comes to commitment, at least, I think I suck at commitment. But what do I feel towards her? Why does she seem to be different?_ He asked himself, _Ugh... too much thinking, should get some sleep._

_

* * *

_

**Please Review!**


	5. Alone Together

**Okay, here's the next chapter to this. Hope you like it! Most fluffy chapter so far! PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: Everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Five: Alone Together

_Josh looked up, seeing nothing but darkness._ W-Where am I? _He thought, looking around._

_Suddenly, he saw someone in the embrace of a shadowed figure. He gazed upon the lovely Princess Emma, wearing a long, white, feathered dress. _

_"W-Wha? Emma?" he inquired. Then he saw the shaft."N-No..." he breathed, watching her began to collapse against the dark figure. The shadow pulled out the arrow and laid her on his lap as he kneeled down with her. _

_"I-It's you..."she whispered, her voice weak. _

_Josh tried to move towards them, but found that he was frozen in place. He could not move an inch of his body. _W-Why can't I move?! _He screamed in his head._

_"N-No, Emma," the shadow choked, tears beginning to stream down his darkened face, "W-Why? You c-can't do this to me, okay? Y-You can't die on me! You just can't!"_

_She smiled weakly at him. "I-I'm sorry... B-But... I had to protect you," she whispered, letting her eyes close one last time, "I-I love you..." With that said, he watched as the last of her life faded._

_"No! Emma! Please! Emma!" the figure screamed in an agonized voice, clutching her desperately against him, "W-Why? Why did you have to leave me? I-I care for you, Emma. I always have." He shook her gently, trying to pry a response from her. But it was too late, she had died. "Emma, I-I love you, I truly love you. I'm sorry I never got to tell you that. But I love you with all my heart." _

_Josh watched helplessly as he watched the darkened figure pressed his mouth against her lips before clutching the princess against him as if he was clinging to dear life. _This is terrible,_ Josh thought,_ how could this happen? I-I don't want to lose her. _As agony tore through him, he screamed out, "NOOOO!!!!" _

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Josh snapped up to the sound of running water ceasing. Fluffy was already up, waiting at the bathroom door happily, his tail wagging. When the ultra-pet saw that his owner was awake, he immediately tackled him.

"Whoa! Down, boy!" he exclaimed, laughing. _Thank goodness that was all just a dream,_ he thought, _But I wonder who was that shadowed figure?_

The door to the bathroom opened, and Emma stepped out wearing a fresh set of clothes, with new, clean bandages wrapped around her arms, and a small scar on the side of her face was nearly gone. The red highlights from her black hair were gone, though, it being Josh, he was too dense to notice it at first.

"Good morning," she greeted cheerfully.

"G-Good morning," he replied, a bit taken aback by her brightness, "I take it you slept well." _Thank goodness she's alright,_ he thought in relief.

She nodded. "Got all my bandages changed because the bleeding's stopped, and I feel a lot better than I did last night," she told him, "How about you? Did _you_ sleep well?"

"I slept pretty soundly, that's for sure," he lied smoothly, rubbing the back of his head, "So, what's on the schedule today?"

The princess shrugged. "Well... Principal K's order was for you and the rest of the team to protect me, and my mission is to protect you. We're all excused from classes until both our missions are successful, but I advise that we continue to go to classes. It's easier for us to stay safe as long as we're with other people, and not alone," she explained.

"Awww, so we still have to go to class?" Josh whined.

She laughed, "You got anything better to do?"

He grinned not-so-innocently. "There's _always_ something better to do than go to class," he argued.

Emma giggled, "And what would _you_ do then?"

Josh answered honestly, "I'd go motor biking, eat, sleep, slack off, take the Hornet or my Defender out for a drive or go Aero biking. Either that or spend a nice afternoon upgrading my bike."

She chuckled, "'All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy', eh? I guess for you'd it would be the case of, 'All play and no work makes Josh a very not dull boy', that's what you'd be thinking, I bet. At least I'm not dull like you." Then she laughed.

He glared at her and smiled evilly, walking over to her and poking her in the side, making her jump.

"Don't!" she warned, "I'm _really _ticklish there."

He grinned. "That's what I was hoping," he said, and then he began to tickle her furiously, making her burst into a fit of giggles.

"Ah-! N-No! S-Stop!" she choked between laughs.

He pushed her down onto her bed and pinned her down with his weight, continuing his tickle attack. Fluffy barked in amusement.

"Say I'm not dull," Josh said, continuing to tickle her, "and I'll let you go."

"O-Okay! O-Okay! J-Josh! J-Josh isn't dull!" she exclaimed between laughing.

Suddenly, the door opened and Aaron and Brett stood there, looking for what was going on. They found Josh, only in a white shirt and his shorts, pinning Emma under a bed. The scene was quite suggesting, and both their mouths dropped and their eyes widened.

Josh immediately stopped tickling Emma and got off of her. "N-No! This isn't what you think!" he exclaimed, blushing furiously.

Emma sighed in relief and sat up leisurely, a cool blush charming her face. "Yeah, Josh just found my weak spot and used it to his advantage. I was just saying how dull he was and then, 'the Josh attacked!'" she explained, chuckling to herself, "It's_ completely_ not what you two are thinking of. Ooh, do you two have such dirty minds now? I hope not."

Both Aaron and Brett's faces turned red in embarrassment as she turned their situation against them.

"O-Of course not. W-We just heard unusually loud laughing and suspected something was going on here," Brett made up.

"Y-Yeah!" Aaron agreed, looking away, "We just thought that you were in trouble or something. W-We'll leave you two to get ready then!"

They hurriedly shut the door and Josh looked at Emma in amazement. "You just totally saved us there."

She shrugged. "Well, it was either that or allow them to think that we were about to, you know, do it," she replied simply.

"But how did you know how to do that?" he implored.

"Easy," she said, rubbing Fluffy's robotic belly, "Reverse psychology is something I've been doing all my life. If you use it to succession, you can get some pretty potent results, like it did just now."

"Wow," he said, "you really know your stuff."

"Yep," she agreed, flopping back down onto her back.

Josh sat down next to her. "Something wrong, Em?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Just thinking strategic," she answered, "Chris isn't going to leave us alone without a fight, you know."

Suddenly, Josh noticed something different about her. "Hey, your red highlights in your hair are gone," he noted, running his fingers through her soft hair. _Man... I fall for girls way too easily,_ he thought, snatching his hand back.

"Yeah, go figure Einstein," she teased, "I'm surprised you_ just_ noticed."

"Eh..." he trailed off, "I'm not very observant, am I?"

She grinned. "No, you're just slow," she replied, "It didn't take me long to dye it back to black."

"Magic?" he guessed.

She shook her head. "Apparently my magic is fluked right now. The poison has sealed it off. I won't get them back until the night of the next full moon."

His eyes widened. "But that's still in a week!" he exclaimed.

"I can only summon my wings and heal people's minor wounds, because those abilities are a part of me," she added, sitting up and looking up at him.

"Meaning you're completely defenceless," he retorted knowledgably, "And that the rest of us need to defend you."

"Hey, hey, hey," she quickly said defensively, holding her hands up in a defensive way, "Just because my magic is down _doesn't_ mean that I'm defenceless. I've taken martial arts, I have a degree in swordsmanship, and I know how to defend myself in a casual brawl."

He thought about it for a few seconds before commenting, "And yet you can't even defeat me in a tickling contest."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, "You cheated! You attacked me first so I couldn't get any tickles against you!"

He grinned menacingly. "You want to try again?" he challenged.

She backed off a bit and smiled nervously. "Uh... n-no thanks," she admitted, "I-I think I'll pass on that."

He took her hand, his face more serious now. "Emma, I'll protect you, okay? I promise," he told her quietly.

She smiled, placing a hand on his cheek and forcing him to look at her. He placed her forehead against his and stared directly into his eyes. "Josh, don't worry about me, okay? All I'm worried about is you," she whispered, "_Your_ life is in much more danger than mine. So I have more reason to worry about you than you about me."

_I love you,_ he thought, _I think I've truly fallen in love with you. But I_ can't_ tell you. Not now. Not when we're both in grave danger._ He really wanted to take her into his arms and never let her go.

She moved her hand and face away and quickly planted a kiss on his cheek before standing up and going on her laptop.

Josh touched the spot in which she had kissed him and felt a blush overcome his face.

She looked at him, a leg crossed over the other. "Should I be flattered by that blush on your face?" she teased.

"W-Wha?!" he exclaimed, face growing redder.

"Well... you _are_ blushing," she informed.

"I-I am?!" he shouted out unintentionally, "Um... I mean- Of course I'm not!"

"Then why is your face red?" she asked him, grinning.

He looked away. "I-It's a bit hot in here, that's all," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "Right," she agreed sarcastically, turning back to her computer and typing quickly.

"What are you doing?" Josh inquired.

"Making sure that Chris has absolutely no way to hack into my files and check out what's going on, what I know, and what all of _you_ know," she replied, not looking back.

Fluffy cocked his head and barked.

"By the way, you still never told me how you summoned those birds to come save us," Joshua said suddenly.

She looked back. "Oh yeah, well, the flute that I have is enchanted. It relays all of my messages to the creatures that I desire in a language that they can understand. It's the language of music and song. When playing that flute I integrate my magic with the internal enchantments that have already been placed on the flute and then send my message out to the desired creature, or creatures," she explained, "That's only the _simplest_ explanation I can give you. If I gave you the long, hard explanation, you probably wouldn't understand what I was talking about anymore."

"I _think _I kinda get it," he said.

"Just 'kinda'?" she mocked, laughing, "Anyway, we should meet up with the others soon. I hope Brett and Aaron aren't spreading around the wrong message from when they completely just barged into my room. Who _knows_ where that completely wrong information could end up? _Especially_ if there's a spy of Chris', then we're in big trouble. Not to mention Principal Kirkpatrick. He'd probably be furious at you."

He scoffed, "Yeah, no kidding. My dad would _kill _me if I got myself into that situation." Then he bit back his remark as he saw a spark of pain flash across her face by bringing up the topic of 'parents'. "I-I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, "I forgot that your parents are..."

She forced him an easy smile. "It's okay," she told him quietly, "I'm usually okay with the topic nowadays. Aaron's been taking care of me ever since our parents died, and well... I've done my fair share of growing up too. Anyway, I'm sure that my parents would have approved of you as Alphaspark of Alasparx."

He looked at her with worried, concerned blue eyes. "You sure you're okay?" he asked, "You seem really... sad every time the subject is brought up."

She turned off her computer and sat back next to him on her bed, her hands folded. "Josh, I'm okay," she insisted, "Really, I am."

Chastely, he turned her towards him and pressed his lips tightly against hers, closing his eyes.

For a moment her eyes widened and then she sighed, shutting her aqua eyes and began to kiss him back. His arms wound around her waist and hers were against his chest.

They continued to kiss for a few more moments before Emma pulled away and stood up, looking down at the ground.

"I-I'm sorry," Josh apologized, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

She looked up at the ceiling but still avoided his eyes. "No... Don't apologized, Josh," she said, "We shouldn't be doing this, not while we're both in danger. I-I just... _can't._ It's not because I don't _want_ to, but I need to protect you from Chris. He'll do_ anything_ to kill you, and that _includes _using me to do it. If he finds out that we're together, he'll threaten to kill me to get to you, and I _can't_ allow that to happen. I have to do my duty, even if it means ignoring the path my heart wants me to follow."

He fell silent, unsure of what to say. Then he stood up and went up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face into her hair. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I couldn't help it."

Her hands fluttered against his before she removed them and turned to look at him. "No, Josh. We can't be doing this anymore. We can't go out together," she told him sternly, "It's for both of our own goods. I'm sorry, but I'll be out with the others. You should get yourself ready for class." Then she walked out the door, closing it behind her.

"I feel like I've offended her somehow," Josh said to Fluffy, who looked rather sad.

The ultra-pet whimpered, bowing his head.

"Aww, don't worry about it boy, I'm sure that things will work out between us... eventually," he sighed.

He barked in agreement and wagged his tail hopefully.

Josh sighed and then went to the bathroom to shower and change. _Everything will be better after this deal with the Alphaspark thing is over,_ he reassured himself, _at least, I hope so._

* * *

**Ouch, Josh got rejected. lol. Hope you liked reading this chapter! **

**Please review and I'll update as soon as I can!**

**PS: Those of you who read 'April Fools Finn', I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated a chapter, problem is I need more ideas and more feedback cause at the moment I don't have too much motivation to continue it. Sure, I'm still working on it, but it's going... veryyyy... slowly.... So please help me out here! If you can, thanks!**


	6. Heart's Sanctuary

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it! Please Review!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Six: Heart's Sanctuary

"Morning Aaron," Emma greeted, hugging her brother tightly. They were in the empty courtyard, because everyone else was in class.

"Good morning Emma," he replied, hugging her just as tightly, "Is something wrong? You're shaking like crazy. You sick or something?"

She looked up at him with sad aqua eyes. "Aaron, you've got to keep this a secret, okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "But unless it's something that has to do with both our worlds, I might not be able to," he warned, "Otherwise, sure."

The princess shook her head. "No, it's not. Aaron," she began, hesitating, "I-I think I might be falling in love with Josh; as in, my _team leader_ Josh. As in, the only person, the _Alphaspark,_ who can save both our worlds."

He blinked for a few moments before replying, "Did you kiss him?"

Emma shook her head once more and he sighed in relief. "_He_ kissed _me_," she told him, "I think he may be feeling the same way. But I know that we can't be together. Not now. It's too dangerous. Worse yet, if Christopher finds out that I love him back, I'm putting him in even _more_ danger."

Aaron sighed, running a hand through his short, scruffy black hair, "Man, you guys sure are making things even more complicated than they already are."

Emma looked down shamefully, her eyes brimming with forming tears. He immediately bit back his previous remark and placed his hand on her chin, forcing her to look up at him. He brushed away the tears that already streamed from her eyes.

"Sorry, Emma, I didn't mean it like that. Hey, don't cry, okay?" he said to her quietly, hugging her against him, "I'm sorry."

She wept quietly against him, her whole body shaking. "I-I don't know what to do," she sobbed, feeling as if her heart was shattered into a million tiny pieces, "I-I just don't know what to _do_!"

The prince of Alasparx pressed her closer against his chest, muffling her heartbreaking sobs. "It'll be alright," he reassured affectionately, "Believe me, once this is all over, things will be alright. Trust me, Emma, okay?" His arms were wrapped tightly around her fragile body, and he sent calm, soothing and healing waves into her body, trying to calm her down. _I hate to see you this way, Emma,_ he thought, _I'm so sorry. I never thought that you'd fall in love with the asset; not to mention a very important asset too. _She was calmer now, and her shaking wasn't as bad as it was before. He looked at her with understanding blue eyes. "Emma, how about you spend the day with me? Might take your mind off things," he suggested.

The princess shook her head. "No, if I can't follow through with my duty of protecting the Alphaspark, then there's no point of me following my heart or my duty," she said.

He looked at her sternly. "Emma," he began, "You're not _just _the Guardian of the Alphaspark. You're the princess of Alasparx, and _my _little sister. We're only human, Emma. We can't be expected to not make mistakes. _Everyone_ makes mistakes."

"But we're not just _normal_ humans. We have powers beyond imagination," she retorted, "We should at least do a little better than _this_. Falling in love while during a mission? That's _completely_ unprofessional! I-I don't know what to do anymore. I'm so confused."

"Hey, do you want to go to our sanctuary?" he offered, "We can keep an eye on Josh from there and you might be able to relax better. I'll give the others an enchanted access key so that they can join us later."

Emma sighed and nodded. "Okay, fine, I guess you're right," she said quietly, "Let's leave right now."

Aaron grinned. "Excellent," he added, raising a hand and waving it, making a golden and silver door appear in front of them. He opened it and held it open for her. "Ladies first. I'll be joining up with you later after I give the others the key."

A smile graced her face. "Thanks, Aaron. I'll see you later," she said, walking through the door.

He closed it behind her and made the door disappear. Then he walked back towards their rooms, where he found Josh, Yoko and Brett standing outside, wearing their normal clothes.

"Morning guys, what's up?" Aaron greeted, pretending nothing had happened.

"Josh's love life is a little bit messed up right now," Yoko informed, "Apparently he's in love with your little sister Emma."

Josh scratched his head nervously. "Uh... I hope you don't mind or anything."

The older Stiles shook his head. "No... Its fine. It's just that... I-I-I think that Emma is falling for you too," he admitted, looking down, "But it's breaking her heart that she can't be with you. Not while you both are being hunted by Chris. It's killing her inside."

"Poor Emma..." Brett said as Fluffy whimpered, "She must be feeling terrible."

"Where is she?" Josh inquired, his eyes concerned and sad, "I-I want to talk to her. No, I _need _to talk to her."

Aaron waved his hand and a door appeared in front of them. He handed Josh a purple, odd shaped key. "Here, this will take you into our sanctuary. Emma's there right now, so you can go see her. But please... try not to hurt her anymore than she has been. She's a fragile soul, and sometimes I feel like her heart is like glass. If I'm not careful, it might shatter into a million tiny pieces," he explained; his eyes sad.

The 16-year old forced a sad smile. "I-I'll try my best," he said. Then he turned to his team. "Let's go." He slipped the key into the lock and the door opened.

They walked into the light, appearing in a beautiful green field with blue skies above them. There were flowers all over the place, and birds could be heard twittering from nearby deciduous trees. A lake sat at the bottom of the sloping part of the field, and a shimmering waterfall could be seen at the far side of the lake.

Fluffy barked in excitement and rolled over in the cool grass.

"This place is beautiful," Yoko squealed, bending down and picking a yellow daisy, "So_ this_ place is your sanctuary?"

Aaron nodded as the door behind them vanished. "Emma and I used to come here a lot to get away from the stress we had to deal with back on Alasparx," he explained. His eyes scanned the horizon and he spotted his sister. "Emma's over there, Josh," he said, pointing over in the distance.

Their eyes focused on the young girl wearing a spaghetti strap plain yellow sun dress. Her white bandages showed, but her skin looked a lot better than the day before. She held a bunch of flowers in her arms, and a single yellow lily was tucked in her hair. Birds chirped around her, and they playfully flew around her, making her giggle and laugh. She held up her hand and a tiny bluebird fluttered onto her finger. It flew away when she turned to see Josh running over to her.

_Josh... Who knew I'd be encountering you so soon?_ Emma thought as he stopped in front of her. "Yes?" she asked quietly.

He just stared at her for a moment before pulling her into his arms, hugging her close against his chest, burying his face into her soft hair. Her eyes widened as her cheek was resting against the soft fabric over his chest, and she glanced up at him to the best she could.

"Josh... What's wrong?" she inquired.

"I think I'm in love with you, Emma," he muttered into her hair, "I can't stop thinking about you."

She pulled away from him. "What are you talking about?" she denied.

He grabbed her and tightly pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deeply. "I'm in love with you, Emma," he said quietly, his forehead resting against hers.

She pushed him away, turning around so that she wasn't facing him. So he couldn't see the truth and the deep hurt that reflected in her eyes. "You only _think _you're in love with me," she stated in a monotone voice, "Your love for me is only an illusion. My only feelings for you are that of a guardian to an asset. I'm sorry, but I cannot give you what you seek." Then she walked away without another word. _I'm sorry, Josh,_ she contemplated, _But this is for both of our own goods. Our relationship shouldn't get more complicated from here on in._ Four birds fluttered down to her with a cloth in their claws as if like a trampoline, and Emma placed her forming bouquet onto it, and they flew away.

Josh stared after her, his eyes hard and pained. _Do you_ really_ mean that, Emma?,_ he thought,_ Is my love just an illusion to you, or do you want to_ think_ that it's an illusion?_ Then he ran after her down the hill, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him.

Emma forced a groan, rolling her eyes. "What do you want now? I already told you that your love is an illusion. Nothing but a _mere, worthless illusion_!" she shouted, trying to get away.

He firmly grabbed hold of both her shoulders, and forced her to look at him. "Emma, look me in the eyes and tell me that my love is an illusion, and that you don't love me," he ordered, "If you can do that, I'll never pester you about my feelings for you again until you possibly return them sometime in the future."

She looked deeply into his blue eyes, opening her mouth to speak. But no words came out. She couldn't say it; she couldn't tell him bitter lies that her duty required her to do. Instead, she looked down, her eyes glimmering with newly-forming tears. "Josh, I-" she broke off, "I-I just..."

"I know your feelings for me are beyond friendship," he said, "because while we were still in your room, just the two of us, alone, you were easily relaxed, and just dealt with life as it went along. When my lips touched yours, I could feel that you wanted the comfort of my touch just as much as I wanted yours. Tell me; tell me that you're not in love. Forget about your duty as Guardian and forget that I'm the Alphaspark. Pretend that we're just normal people, that we're just a girl and a boy looking for love. Now, knowing this, tell me how you _really _feel about me? Look me in the eyes and tell me."

Emma forced herself to look up at him, seeing the deep hurt in his eyes and feeling regret for causing that pain. "Josh... I-I-I," she breathed, "I'm in love with you too. But we can't-"

He cut her off by placing two fingers on her lips and sighed in relief. "That's all I needed to hear. I know that our current situation doesn't allow us to have a romantic relationship, but I just want to know that even though we can't_ have_ that relationship, it _exists,_" he explained.

"Josh..." she said quietly, looking down, "I just... don't know... E-Ever since I met you, I just... I've been feeling attracted to you. I read your file and I-I-I just... don't know." She sighed and turned away, "Look, I don't know how well this is going to work, but... well... I only have one question; do you want to hold on to our relationship or should we just let this go?"

He kissed her, the barest touch of lips to lips. "I want to hold on to our relationship, or at least, I want to try to be dedicated to a girl I think I'm in love with," he replied quietly.

She smiled. "Then the only way we can truly be together without worry of Chris' attempts to kill us, is to be here, in my sanctuary. Here we can truly reveal our feelings for each other and not worry about feeling guilty about them," she explained.

He smiled, an arm wrapping around her waist, setting her down on the grass on her back, kneeling down beside her. "Then in that case, I can kiss you all I want while we're here," he said as he laid down on top of her, enclosing his lips over hers, his hands buried in her hair as hers wrapped around his neck. They continued to roll on top of each other down the hill as they continued to kiss passionately. Not before long, Josh rolled on top of Emma one last time before her head flopped and rested against the grass, his lips brushing gently against her neck.

"Drat," Josh breathed, "that was pretty passionate, wasn't it?"

She groaned, "Not to mention I feel dizzy now because we rolled down to the bottom of the hill. I'm amazed we didn't fall into the lake yet."

He nuzzled her neck lovingly. "I'm deeply in love with you, Emma," he mumbled.

The princess smiled sincerely. "As I am you," she replied, sliding out from under him and sitting up, "Do you want to get breakfast now? Aaron and I have arranged a little breakfast picnic thing."

Joshua smiled, sitting up next to her. "I'd love to," he answered as three red cardinals dropped a large yellow sunhat on Emma's head, making her giggle as she thanked them before they flew away. "So you know these birds well?" he asked.

She nodded. "These birds are all my friends, as well as all of the other creatures living here in my sanctuary," she elaborated, "Ever since Aaron and I kinda made this place, we've taken care of a whole bunch of creatures and animals here. So, well, they're kind to us. For example." She whistled highly and loudly using two of her fingers and her mouth.

A few moments later, a loud screech rang through the air and a winged creature came spiralling out of the sky, landing just a few feet in front of them. Emma held on to the top of her hat to prevent it from flying off her head. The creature had the face of a hawk, but had a lion's body (excluding the fur on the belly), and wings protruded from its back.

"Oh my gosh!" Josh exclaimed frightfully, "What is _that_?!"

Emma stood up, walking over and stroking the creature's beak. "He's a gryphon," she informed, "Aaron and I have raised Star since he was just a youngling. Now he's grown into a big, strong, and handsome gryphon, right?" She pet him on the head and he nuzzled into her hand affectionately.

"S-So he's safe?" Josh stammered, still a bit nervous in the beast's presence.

She giggled, "Of course he is. Now come on, hop on. We're heading over to the picnic now." As Star bent down onto his elbows, she slid onto his back, sitting side-saddle. She patted the spot behind her and looked at him.

Josh gulped nervously before climbing on. He let out a soft yelp as Star rocked back on his heels and beat his wings, soaring into the air. The slightly freaked out 16-year-old teen wrapped his arms around Emma in fear of falling off. How could this just be so natural to her?! "Why aren't you freaked out?!" he exclaimed, "There's no seatbelts on this thing!"

Emma laughed, stroking Star's head gently. "Flying is like a second nature to me, remember? Star will catch us if we fall, not to mention I can too," she answered. Then she looked down towards their destination on the field on top of the waterfall, seeing a picnic table covered with a whole bunch of breakfast foods and fruits. She waved at her brother, Yoko and Brett, who waved back, and Star began to circle them before touching down on the ground. She slipped off the gryphon's back and hugged her brother.

"You look beautiful," he complimented, "Did the birds choose this one out for you?"

"Yeah," she answered, "They also chose out my bathing suit."

"Bathing suit? Are we swimming?" Yoko inquired, eyes sparkling, "I love swimming!"

Brett cocked his head. "_Are_ we swimming?" he repeated.

Aaron grinned, nodding as he handed his younger sister her slender flute. "Yep, we're going to enjoy a nice, refreshing swim before and during breakfast," he explained while removing his shirt, revealing his well-toned chest. Then he pulled off his pants, revealing black swim trunks.

Emma played a soft melody on the flute, and a flock of birds came and fluttered around her. She ceased her playing and said, "Can you help my friends choose their swimwear?" Then she turned to Star. "Star, you know where to go, right?"

The birds chirped and flew over to Josh, Yoko and Brett, tugging on their clothes to follow them. They followed and eventually they found that they had to climb onto Star's back.

"Go on now, Star and my friends here will take you to choose your swimwear, and we'll see you guys in a few minutes," Aaron said, "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Have fun guys," she shouted as they flew away.

"So how'd things go with Josh?" her brother inquired.

"We're only going to be all romantic while we're here in the sanctuary. The only place where there's no way Chris can hurt us," she answered.

"But you've both confessed, correct?" he pushed.

She nodded and sighed. "This isn't something that I'd ever plan on doing," she said, "Falling in love on a two-worlds-threatening mission. There's also something else I want to tell you, Aaron." Her voice quieted now, getting lower and lower.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I-I had this dream..." she began, "my life is in danger, I can just feel it."

He grabbed both of her shoulders, bending down so he could look her straight in the eyes. "Whoa, whoa, wait, Emma. What are you talking about?" he asked.

She looked at him, seeing the fear in his eyes that reflected her own. "A-Aaron," she breathed, "I dreamed of my own death. I dreamed that I died saving Josh's life."

* * *

**PLEASE REVIEW AND I'LL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN!!!!!!**


	7. Attacked!

**Wow... its been a lonngggg while since I've updated, so I thought I would do it now. lol, anyway, things are a little more dramatic and somewhat more violent in this chapter. I apologize if you don't see Fluffy a lot in this, because, well... he proves a little repetative when it comes to his actions when the team isn't in danger. **

**Anyway, please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Attacked!

"W-What?" Aaron gasped, breathless, "You dreamed that you _died saving Joshua Kirkpatrick's life_?"

Fluffy brushed against Emma's leg, whimpering slightly.

She nodded wordlessly. "I-It's just a dream," she protested, "I-It's not like it actually _means_ anything. I'm not actually going to d-d-d-" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

He pulled her tightly against his bare chest. "You're not going to die, Emma. I won't allow it," he said, "You're too young to die."

"You're never too young to die," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck, "A-Aaron, I-I'm scared."

He pressed her closer. "Emma, I won't allow anything to happen to you," he promised, "I love you, little sister."

"As I love you," she whispered back, "Don't tell the rest of the team, please."

Suddenly, a screech echoed in the sky and the team came back on Star's back. They landed, and Emma forced a smile.

"Are you okay, Emma? You seem worried," Yoko inquired as she and her teammates walked over to them in their swimsuits.

"Y-Yeah," she hesitated, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Yoko placed her hands on her hips, her pink two-piece bikini shining in the sunlight. Brett wore cute little yellow swim trunks while Josh wore black and blue ones.

"You ready to swim?" Aaron inquired naturally.

Emma slipped off her dress, revealing her blue two-piece swimsuit, which also revealed her curves. She took off her glass shoes and took the lily out of her hair, placing it next to her shoes. "I am now," she declared proudly, pumping a fist into the air, "Let's go!"

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Brett challenged as they all surged towards the water.

Aaron and Emma dived into the water first, Brett, Yoko and Josh following into the lukewarm water. Eagerly, they splashed each other with water, making each other squeal and laugh joyously.

Emma turned to Josh. "I want to show you something," she said, "Follow me." Then she took a deep breath and she went under the water. Josh immediately followed her down into the water, swimming after her towards a deep reef by a shallow cave.

The princess smiled at him, tiny air bubbles escaping her lips. She pointed up and he nodded.

Both of them swam up back towards the surface, and they both took in deep breaths of fresh air, wet strands of hair sticking against their foreheads as they waded in the water.

"What was that? It was absolutely beautiful," he queried, brushing back his short black hair.

"A coral reef, obviously," she retorted with a chuckle, "Aaron and I decided to make a coral reef here, and then we decided to bring several of our marine friends here. The ones who wanted to come, anyway."

"Emma?" Aaron stated worriedly, "Something's wrong. Let's go investigate."

"We're coming with you," Yoko immediately said, and the prince of Alasparx nodded gravely.

All 5 of them dived down into the water, and on shore Fluffy barked worriedly.

They swam down near the cave and the reef, looking around worriedly for any sign of trouble.

_The animals are gone,_ Aaron's voice echoed in their heads, _something must have scared them off._

_But what could it be? _Suddenly, she felt a gentle rumble, and she looked towards the cave, her eyes wide. _NO!!!_ Emma thought frantically as she swam towards Josh at a breakneck speed, pushing him out of the way as a giant tentacle lashed out and whipped her into a wall of rock.

_Emma!!!_ They all thought in alarm.

The fair princess remained motionless as her hands clutched against the rock wall. She very well knew she couldn`t catch her breath while she was underwater and without her powers, but the pain and shock of it had stunned her.

A loud roar violently shook the water, and a giant purple octopus appeared in their sight from the cave.

_That`s no ordinary octopus_, Aaron told them telepathically, _Its one of Chris` transformed monsters that he must have sent here. Josh, get outta here!_

_He`s right,_ Emma agreed, pain echoing in her thoughts as she swam back over to them, _Josh, you`ve _got_ to get out of here. Please, go!_

Aaron placed a concerned hand on her shoulder. _Are you okay?_ He questioned.

She gave him a weak nod. Then she pointed up while she was looking at Yoko, Josh and Brett. _Hurry you three!_ Without warning, a tentacle wrapped around her body and tightened quickly, dragging her down.

_Emma!_ Josh thought, swimming down after her.

_No! Josh! Get outta here! _Aaron ordered, waving his hand and he breathed out. "You've got to get out," he said, "My magic will help me breathe in the water, but you three have to get out. Stay on land. This thing can't hurt you three there."

Reluctantly, the three swam up and broke the surface. Back down below, the octopus' tentacle was snugly wrapped around Emma's slim body.

"Become my queen, Emma, and I'll let you live," Chris' voice echoed into Emma's head, "Maybe I might throw in your friends and brother too."

She shook her head furiously, struggling to keep her breath. He also sent waves of dark and evil energy into her body, hurting her further.

"Or else you're going to _die_, Emma," the dark prince warned as the tentacle tightened around her. Precious air bubbles escaped her mouth and she had no choice but to breathe in water.

"Emma!" Aaron hissed as he swam towards her before being violently hit with a tentacle, breaking several bones in his body and flung out of the water, landing painfully on the grass.

Immediately, Brett, Josh and Yoko ran over to him. "Aaron!"

He coughed, blood streaming from his lips. "I-I'm okay. S-Save Emma..." he trailed off, coughing while clutching his ribs. He twitched his hand, making several weapons appear. A blue hilted sword and sheath, a striped pink and white bow and pink-rimmed quiver of arrows and a small yellow dagger and mini laptop-like-device appeared in the grass.

"W-What are these?" Brett implored.

"W-Weapons that will h-h-help," Aaron breathed painfully, "J-Josh, take the sword. Yoko, the b-bow and arrows are yours. B-B-Brett, you take the dagger and updater. Y-You've got to hurry. E-E-Emma's drowning."

Almost instantly, Josh grabbed the sword and dived into the water, drawing out the sword with a desperate spark in his eyes. A golden aura fluttered around both him and the sword, and he lashed out viciously at the octopus, and the sudden dark aura around the squid disappeared and it disappeared as well.

_What just happened?_ He thought in wonder. Suddenly, he saw Emma's body sink lifelessly and settle on the ground, one hand beside her head as the other rested on her chest. _No!_ Hurriedly, he sheathed his sword and dived down beside her, his arms slipping under her body and holding her close. He kicked off the bottom of the lake to help propel them up to the surface.

"Come on, Josh," Yoko said quietly, "Come _on_! Where _are_ you?"

All of a sudden, Josh broke the surface, Emma in his arms. Hurriedly, he hauled her to shore, lifting her out of the water and checking her pulse. He could feel her heart beat, but it was terribly weak. He began to pump down hard on her chest, trying to force the water she had inhaled out. "Come on, Emma! Breathe!" he cried, tears threatening to fall from his blue eyes, "Please Emma! Breathe!" He pressed his mouth tightly against hers, trying to breathe life into her. He repeated the cycle once more before she coughed up mouthfuls of water.

Her golden eyes fluttered unfocusedly at the blue sky as slow, deep breaths escaped her lips.

"Emma!" Josh exclaimed, propping her upright against his shoulder.

"J-J-J-Josh," she breathed, "What happened?" Then she saw her brother's body lying nearby, and she hurriedly crawled over to him, resting her hands on his chest. Her own body shuddered as her hands emitted a blue aura and targeted Aaron's wounds. "What the hell happened?" she demanded quietly as the birds draped a big towel over her shoulders.

"Hit by one of those huge tentacles," Aaron choked, "Ribs."

"Shhh..." Yoko chided, "Don't speak."

"You'll be alright in a few more seconds," Emma told him, her eyelids fluttering to stay open.

Josh rested a hand on her shoulder, worry setting in his eyes. He knew she was exhausted, or at least, he could tell she was. After a few moments later, she collapsed back against the leader, and she sighed tiredly.

"Are you okay?" Brett inquired.

She nodded, her gaze focusing on Aaron, who sat up with Yoko and Brett supporting his shoulders. "You okay, Aaron?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks Emma. I feel a whole lot better now. My ribs feel not-broken now," he said, adding a small laugh at the end. Then he immediately became sober and inquired, "How about you? Are you okay?"

She leaned back on Josh, giving her head a weak shake. "I think Chris pumped some sort of dark and evil energy into me. I can feel myself weakening," she admitted.

"You don't look so well," Brett added, "You're awfully pale."

"Emma, you're getting cold," Josh noted, worry in his eyes as his arms tightened around her waist.

Suddenly, her eyes closed and her body went still and cold as ice. Her lips parted and a small ball of white light floated from her mouth. A tiny dark fog surrounded the ball, and Emma's head fell back limply against Josh's bare shoulder.

"Emma! Emma! _EMMA!_" he cried.

"Shhh… quiet. Hold on," Aaron said calmly, making the ball of light float closer to him, "T-This is Emma's soul. I think I've read something about this before. Anyway, before I return her soul to her, we must purify it from the evil energy Chris has wrapped around her. It's the only way we can truly save her."

"W-W-Why are you so _calm_ about this?" Yoko inquired; her eyes wide.

"Honestly, I'm not, but I have to stay strong for my sister," he admitted as tears threatened to stream from his eyes, "Damn it..."

"Emma," Josh whispered, one hand tightly on the side of her head, clutching her cold body desperately against his. Fluffy ran over to them, nuzzling into her limp hand before whimpering.

"Don't worry Fluff," Yoko tried to reassure, "she'll be fine… I think."

"If my thoughts are correct," Brett began, "The only way we can get rid of the dark aura is using equal or more powerful magic to destroy it."

Aaron closed his eyes, a hand on either side of her soul, focusing on dissipating the dark aura. His hands glowed for a moment before a barrier-sort of energy bounced his hands back. "Damn it," he breathed, "It won't allow me to purify it. Chris must have gotten stronger."

Carefully, the team leader rested Emma's body against her brother. "Here, let me try," he suggested. He copied Aaron's actions, scrunching his eyes tight as he tried to focus all his energy in purifying his love's soul. For a moment, nothing happened, but then suddenly his hands glowed a light blue energy, completely covering the ball of energy. He focused a little more, trying to break through the invisible force field, and without warning, the barrier around Emma's soul vanished and engulfed the light, immediately purifying it. He collapsed back as a new powerful force pushed him back, the soul floating back into Emma's body.

"Josh, are you okay?" Yoko asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He sat up, groaning, "Yeah. How's Emma?"

"She's breathing again," Aaron answered, checking his sister's pulse, "and her pulse is normal."

Her aqua eyes fluttered open. "W-What happened, where am I?" she implored.

Her brother hugged her tighter. "Emma, you're okay," he breathed, "Your soul left your body because it was tainted with Chris' dark magic. Josh purified it before it returned back into your body. Eh… it kinda bounced him back though after he purified it."

She sat up, looking at her team leader. "Sorry about that, Josh. I placed an enchantment that would protect my soul if it left my body. I'm sorry if it hurt you. After my soul is purified by any evil that's overtaken it, it can be harnessed as pure energy for either good or evil. The cost of it though is my life. After the soul's energy is used, I will die," she explained, "And so, to make sure that my soul cannot be harnessed for evil, I placed an enchantment on it."

"That's crazy! And impossible!" Brett exclaimed.

"Nothing's impossible when it comes to magic," she argued.

Immediately, Josh tackled her, hugging her tightly. "I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed.

"Eh… technically I was," she agreed, blinking, "I think the danger's over now. Aaron, how about you and me go check?"

"You sure you up for it?" he inquired worriedly, and she nodded. "Very well, let's go."

The siblings stood up, both running towards the lake, gracefully diving in. Aaron waved his hand and both he and his sister could now breathe underwater.

"I'll take a look near the cave and seal off any possible gateways so Chris can't send anything after you," he said, swimming towards the cave now.

"Be careful," she warned, "I'll find the sea animals and tell them its safe. Plus I'll see if they're okay."

They split up, and Emma swam over to some cracks in the rocks. "Guys," she called, "Its safe. You can come out now. The danger's gone."

Immediately at the sound of her voice, dozens of various fish and sea creatures emerged from the cracks, swimming around her and she giggled. Suddenly, a young dolphin swam over to her, nuzzling against her, and she patted it on the head, laughing.

"Are you guys all okay?" she inquired.

The female dolphin nodded, and Emma held onto her top fin as she swam back towards the cave, leading the rest of the marine animals back towards their home.

"Its safe now," Aaron announced as he swam back from the cave, "I've sealed off any possible entrances and restored several of the damaged reefs, so our work here is done."

Emma patted the dolphin on the head. "Bye Leila," she bid before she and her brother swam up to the surface.

"Aaron! Emma!" Yoko exclaimed as they swam to shore and climbed out, "Is everything alright?!"

"Yeah, the danger's gone," the elder Stiles replied, shaking out his wet hair, "By the way, I expect that you'll want an explanation about the weapons."

"That would be correct," Brett agreed as several birds dropped them some towels to dry off.

"Yeah, like how come when I just cut that octopus-creature it vanished?" Josh added, "And I saw this dark aura-like-thing around it disappear too."

Emma decided to answer the question instead as the birds returned them their clothes. "These weapons are designed to vanquish the dark energy and or spirit controlling them. For example, take the octopus; you say once you cut it the dark aura disappeared, correct. That means that you've broken Chris' control on it. However, the octopus shouldn't have vanished," she explained, slipping back on her yellow dress.

"Yeah, that's odd," Aaron agreed, putting back on his shirt, "the octopus should have just remained there. The only way it could have disappeared is with magic…"

"But if _you_ guys didn't do it," Brett began.

"And I know _I_ couldn't have done it," Josh added, "I'm just a guy with powers which I still don't know how to use."

"But wouldn't that mean that someone _else_ could be doing it then?" Yoko suggested, "But… who could it be? There's no one else here but us."

As wind began to blow around a particular spot by them in the field, Emma stepped protectively in front of Josh as Aaron tossed her sword over to her, which she caught and had her hand at the hilt. He himself took out a katana, ready for anything and or everything. Josh grabbed his own sword as Yoko knocked an arrow onto her bow. Brett knew he couldn't do much with his dagger so he watched carefully.

Suddenly, Chris appeared, his golden eyes blazing with amusement as his short black hair was tussled in the wind. He had a sword hanging on a belt at his side, a long dark red trench coat, a V-necked brown shirt and black slacks. He had on black leather gloves, and an onyx pendant hung from his neck.

"What do you want?" Emma hissed threateningly.

The sorcerer chuckled. "I've come to kill the Alphaspark and come for you, my princess," he returned. Then he noticed Aaron. "Ah… Crown Prince Aaron," he said, politely bowing before drawing his sword and dashing forward, crossing blades with the fair prince.

Immediately, Emma drew her own sword and broke the standoff between the two men, keeping her posture strictly defensive. "If you want to fight someone, Christopher, fight me," she challenged. Telepathically, she told Aaron, _Get Josh and the others out of here. I'll hold him off._

Without warning, the Veralix empire heir attacked her, and they parried before he lashed out at her with waves of energy, knocking her back. He unleashed the same waves of energy at Aaron, who didn't see it coming and couldn't block it, was also knocked back. Then he suddenly lunged towards Josh, sword poised to kill, before Emma ran in front of him, blocking the blow, before Chris kicked her in the side. The girl crashed into the ground, the sword flying from her hands.

"Emma!" Josh, Brett and Yoko exclaimed.

"Hey, you meanie!" Yoko shouted angrily, "pick on someone your own skill level!" She released the arrow and Chris blocked it easily.

"At this rate," he sighed, walking over the her, "that would _not_ be you. My own skill level, would be Emma."

Josh ran over in front of Emma, drawing his sword. "S-Stay back!" he shouted, hesitation in his voice.

"Josh! Move!" Emma yelled, "Go!"

Chris smirked, waving two fingers and Josh flew aside, falling to the grass near them. "I meant to kill you now, but… well… I guess Princess Emma will just have to do," he announced, raising his blade after restraining Emma's body with magic.

"No!" Aaron cried, thrusting his hand out and a wave of electricity shot forward, crashing against an invisible force field.

Time never moved so slowly as Chris plunged the blade towards Emma's chest, at the same time releasing his hold on her. A scream erupted from her as the end of the blade pierced her chest, blood pouring from the wound.

"NO!" Josh screamed.

"Emma!" Brett, Yoko and Aaron yelled.

Evilly, Chris twisted the blade, making more blood spill. It seemed like time was stopping. Her back hit the grass as she stared up weakly at the man she hated so much. As he pulled it out, her aqua eyes closed, her head tilting to the side as her body went still.

For a moment, Josh's eyes couldn't leave the sight of Emma's pretty face, the sight of her motionless body, before springing into action. He leaped onto his feet and ran towards Chris with his sword. Chris just barely dodged the sharp-edged blade as it passed him, as the protection barrier shattered easily. When he looked, he saw a trickle of blood from his arm, and he smirked. "Impressive," he stated, before retaliating, slashing open Josh's left arm, making the marshal fall back on his rear.

Aaron ran towards Chris, blade ready to kill and take revenge for his sister, but was easily flung back by his magic, temporarily knocking him out. Then the dark sorcerer proceeded to pick the younger Stiles up bridal style, sheathing his sword. "Well… this has been an amusing experience. But… for now, I must bid you all adieu. My queen and I have our plans to sort out," he announced enigmatically, his golden eyes momentarily turning red, "It seems we must push our wedding closer than planned."

A swirling purple portal appeared in front of him and he advanced through without another word.

"Emma!" Josh shouted, but it was too late; the portal had already swirled shut. Emma was gone… kidnapped and near-fatally wounded by the enemy… But maybe… it was already too late…

* * *

**Yay, finally a cliffy! I wonder what happened to Emma? Hmm....**

**Please Review and I'll update as soon as I can!**

* * *


	8. Somewhere Somehow

**Okay, here's the next chapter!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: Everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Somewhere… Somehow…

"No!" Josh screamed, pounding his fist on the ground, ignoring the blood that continued to pour from his wound, "Emma! I couldn't save you! I couldn't-"

Yoko was kneeling by Aaron's side, shaking him by the shoulders. "Aaron! Aaron! Wake up!" she shouted, her eyes filled with nothing but worry.

His dark blue eyes fluttered open, staring up at the self-proclaimed karaoke queen. "Y-Yoko?" he breathed, "What happened?" Then in an instant it all came back to him, and he sat up abruptly. "Emma?!"

"She's… g-gone…" Brett whispered, his eyes wide as he was still frozen from shock.

"What do you mean she's gone?!" the crown prince demanded furiously, going over to Josh and healing his arm, "Tell me what happened."

"He stabbed her," Josh whispered chokingly, "Christopher stabbed her in the chest. She was unconscious when he took her with him. T-The wound looked fatal…"

Aaron felt a twinge of pain at his explanation, and shouted, "We have to go save her, before it's too late! After marrying her, he'll ensure that both kingdoms will obey him and his queen, before seducing her. After he'll kill her, and make it seem like someone else assassinated her. My kingdom will fall, and my sister will die married to her enemy. And not the man she rightfully loves…" He glanced briefly over at Josh.

Tears fell from Josh's eyes, falling onto the grass. He went over and picked up Emma's sword, sheathing it in its rightful sheath. He kneeled down next to a small pool of blood, knowing it might be too late for the beautiful princess. _I promise I'll get you back,_ he thought.

"We'd better go report to Principal Kirkpatrick," Brett announced, trying not to join the sad mood.

"I agree with Brett. The best way to try and save her is if we carefully plan our rescue mission," Yoko agreed.

"By the way, Aaron, how old is Christopher?" the short blonde inquired, "Cause isn't Emma 16? He looks pretty old…"

"Same age as me, actually. He's also 18; a very power-hungry 18-year-old," he replied.

"We'll have to try our best to hurry," Josh said grimly, "or else by the time we arrive, we may be too late."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Christopher gently laid Emma's limp body on the bed, before placing a hand over her wound and closing golden eyes. Then he began to heal her, at the same time pushing dark energy into her. Without her powers, her body couldn't resist against the dark magic, and had no choice but to take it in. Moments later, a black and red flickering aura appeared around her, outlining her body before it faded, and her eyes opened. But there was a major change in her, her irises were a bloody red colour instead of her normal aqua blue. The blood stain on her yellow dress was gone, disappeared with her wound.

"W-Where am I?" she inquired, blinking.

He sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Emma, I was so worried about you," he murmured, "We're on my home planet. We're on Veralix."

She hugged him back. "Oh Chris, it's just you," she sighed in relief.

"I love you, Emma," he said, kneeling on one knee in front of her, taking out a small box from his coat pocket and opening it, presenting her with a diamond ring, "Beautiful and radiant Princess Emma Stiles, will you marry me and become my wife?"

She smiled, throwing her arms around his neck in happiness and joy.

"Yes, Chris, I will," she responded, and he slipped the ring onto her ring finger before sitting back down next to her, "When do you want the wedding?"

He removed his trench coat and leaned closer to her. "As soon as possible, tomorrow noon," he answered, pressing his lips on hers, his arms snaking around her waist.

Emma kissed back passionately as he pinned her down against the bed, her hands tangled in his short hair. The enchantment Chris placed on her caused her to be hopelessly in love with him, and caused her to desperately want him. Ever so tenderly, he kissed her neck, tracing her neckline with his fingers, and in response, she moaned in absolute pleasure. In temptation, his hand grabbed her leg letting his hand settle pleasurably. Emma's hand moved over his hand and pulled it off her leg.

"Hey," she warned, her red eyes sparkling in amusement, temptation and lust, "save it for the honeymoon, or at least, the night of our wedding."

He pretended to pout. "Awww… you're no fun," he whined, kissing her deeply. Though in his head, he was a little surprised that there was still part of her mind that was resistant to the enchantment.

All of a sudden, she pushed him off of her, her eyes flickering back to aqua for a moment before Chris focused and enhanced the darkness in her to retake her body. Her eyes closed for a moment before reopening them, and they were red once more. She rose onto her elbows and looked at him. "I-I'm sorry, Chris. I-I don't know what came over me…" she apologized, "M-Maybe I need to go take a shower or something."

He nodded, snapping his fingers. Immediately a maid knocked before entering the room, bowing politely before requesting in a forced-nice tone, "You called, master?"

"Please escort Princess Emma to her chambers, and help her choose a dress for lunch," he ordered.

"Of course, sir," she replied, and Emma followed her out of the room as it closed behind them.

"Hmm…" Christopher pondered, "It seems her personal feelings for the Alphaspark are cancelling out the enchantment. The only way I can make sure the enchantment strengthens and is near invincible is if we are successfully married with our wedding kiss, which would seal the enchantment. Unfortunately, I cannot risk using anymore of my powers to strengthen the enchantment or else I will not have enough left to defend myself from her brother. I only hope that damned Alphaspark Joshua won't try to interfere with my plans, as well as that damned team of his."

He glanced around his room, his sharp golden eyes looking for anything that may assist him. As it was, there was nothing that could help and he sighed.

"Very well… in that case, I have no choice but to wait and hope that nothing will go wrong," he determined, "Once she and I are married, and our kingdoms are integrated into a cooperative society, I will kill her and assume my rightful position as king of both Veralix _and_ Alasparx, and with their combined technology, I will ensure Earth's destruction."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"WHAT?!" Principal Kirkpatrick screeched, "Princess Emma has been _kidnapped_?!"

The team (and Aaron) nodded gravely as they had explained the situation at hand; at how they were attacked at Aaron and Emma's sanctuary; at how Chris intruded and stabbed Emma before taking her through a portal; and at how they had failed to protect one of the two people they were _supposed_ to protect.

"We've _got_ to get her back," Aaron said in a desperate tone.

He nodded. "I agree. However, due to what you have told me, I cannot allow Josh's team to accompany you. It's far too dangerous," he replied.

"WHAT?!" Josh, Yoko and Brett yelled.

"But we _have_ to go save her!" Yoko protested.

"It's our fault for letting her get kidnapped in the first place!" Josh added.

Brett shouted, "Galaxy High regulation code 4376.32 specifically states that you never leave a marshal behind! And if you refuse to allow us to go, we'd be violating this code."

The principal's eyes narrowed. "There are always exceptions to the rules, marshal," he reasoned.

"Dad, _please_," Josh begged, his dark blue eyes desperate and pleading.

"Principal Kirkpatrick," Aaron began gravely, "you need to know that we _must_ save Princess Emma. Chris is planning on pushing their wedding closer, in which he can gain control of both our planets. He will kill the princess and immediately attack Earth afterwards. I _cannot_ and _will not_ allow my sister to die married to a man we both loathe so much. Your son Josh _loves_ Princess Emma with all his heart, and guess what? She returns his feelings too!"

Principal Kirkpatrick looked taken aback. Then he looked at his son. "Is this true, Josh?" he queried.

Josh gazed up at his father with unflinching eyes. "Yes, Dad. I love Emma with all my heart. _Please_, let me and my team go rescue her," he pleaded.

He looked deep into his son's eyes, seeing the deep truth in them. He sighed, and reluctantly, said, "Very well… I'll allow you to go to rescue Princess Emma alongside Prince Aaron. There's only _one_ condition; _Please_ be careful."

"Yay!" they cheered.

"Thanks Principal K!" Brett and Yoko exclaimed.

Josh turned to his team. "Let's go," he said.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The team arrived at the hornet, strapped themselves in and took off at hyper drive.

"Knowing Chris," Aaron began, "They'll most likely on planet Veralix in the Alpha-Delta quadrant. He will want to prepare her for their wedding, which he'll most likely make it tomorrow. If I'm correct, she'll be under his mind control, and once their marriage is sealed with their wedding kiss, she'll be under his almost permanent control. It will be very difficult to break." He grimaced, his eyes flashing in cold anger. "However… there is one way to strengthen the spell _without_ the wedding kiss."

Yoko gulped. "And… what would that be?" she dared to ask.

"The only other way to strengthen Chris' mind manipulation is to… seduce Emma completely," the prince growled, his voice dripping with hate.

Brett's eyes widened. "Y-You mean… like..."

"Yes," Aaron grumbled furiously, "He has to sleep with her. Fortunately, he won't _dare_ to try that with her, or at least, she won't do it willingly."

"And why would that be?" Josh inquired curiously, a little more calm knowing the fact that there was a chance now that she would refuse to do something that would bring harm to her.

"Hmm… it's because of Josh, isn't it?" Brett guessed.

The crown prince of Alphasparx nodded. "You really are a prodigy," he complimented before returning onto business, "Anyway, Brett is correct. Her affection for Josh and his love for her has created a bond that can only be severed by either one of them. This bond is one of light, and the enchantment Chris would have placed on Emma is one of darkness. At this point in time, the love shared between them is the light at the end of the tunnel for her. If that light disappears when she has her wedding kiss with Chris, she may be lost to us forever, and Earth's destruction will begin."

"Not if we can help it," Josh hissed, pushing the hornet as fast as it could go. He couldn't bear the thought of her kissing someone else; especially someone that they both hated. "We're going to save her, if it's the last thing we do."

"Even at our current speed, by the time we arrive at planet Veralix, it'll be the next day already," Brett informed, "just before noon, to be exact."

"But if the wedding's at noon…" Yoko began grimly.

Fluffy barked.

"That's right, Fluff," Josh said, his hands tightening on the wheel, "We've gotta hurry. There's a wedding we need to crash."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Gently, Christopher Richands tussled with Emma's black bangs, smiling at her radiant face. They lay together on the king-sized bed, both dressed in their pyjamas. Emma wore an elegant plain midnight blue night shift with simple designs on it, while Chris wore a simple dark grey tunic with dark matching midnight blue pants. The princess' hair was waved and seemed to shine weakly in the moonlight.

She fluttered open red eyes, turning to smile at her fiancée. "Chris?" she asked.

He smiled back at her. "Yes, my beloved princess?" he responded sweetly.

"Why me?" she questioned, "Out of all the people to fall in love with, why did you fall for me? Why love me?"

He stroked her cheek with his fingertips. "Because you are beautiful, in body, heart, and spirit. A girl like you comes rarely," he explained, inching closer to her and kissing her, "I love you, and I can't wait till we're married." _For more than one reason,_ he added silently, _Maybe I might not kill you after all, but keep you as my eternal slave. After all, your powers should be restored soon, and the Alphaspark _ever_ harm his beloved princess, even _if_ she becomes my queen._

"And I love you too, Chris," she returned, kissing him as her fingertips ran over his jaw line, "I want you to become my lover, the only man I want to spent the rest of my life with."

He sighed somewhat depressingly. _If only you could _really_ choose to love me with your own mind and heart, and not through some spell,_ he wished in his dark heart, _but you could never love someone who wants to take over your world and try to kill you, I suppose._

"Something wrong, sweetheart?" Emma asked, propping herself up onto her elbow while looked at him.

The sorcerer pulled her closer and down against him, running his hands down her neck, shoulders, and curves as she lay on top of him. "Oh Emma," he breathed, "If only you could be mine forever."

"What do you mean?" she queried, her red eyes filled with worry.

He brushed his thumb across her cheek, giving her a small smile. "Don't worry about it, love. Just worry about our wedding. I have a feeling we might have a few party crashers who are looking for you to take back with them," he told her.

She laid herself down on his chest, her ear listening to the calm beating of his cold heart. "You'll protect me, right? You won't let them take me away?" she whispered, "I don't want to get taken away. I want to be with you and you alone."

His arm wound around her waist, holding her tight. His hand tangled in her hair and rested on the back of her head. "I'll would never willingly allow my beloved wife to be harmed," he swore. _And the reason this works is because if that damned Alphaspark Josh and his team interrupted the wedding before we were married, I could kill her without breaking my vow to protect my wife, because she wouldn't be it! _He thought evilly, _and with her out of my way, in Josh's breakdown, I can kill him. Then no one will be able to stop me!_

_

* * *

_

**Uh oh... Time's running out. What's gonna happen next?! Bwahaha, I already know.**

**Please review and I'll update soon!**

* * *


	9. Wedding Crashers

**Well... this is a rather short chapter, I suppose, but with lots of drama and etc. Well... I guess what I'm trying to say is that this chapter has a LOT, and I mean a LOT of interesting drama/action here. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

**PS: no, the title does not have much association with the movie. (Honestly, never watched it. Not really planning to anytime soon)  
**

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Wedding Crashers

Swiftly but silently, Josh landed the hornet without any problems or troubles on the planet. The vegetation on the planet was almost eerily similar to the plants and trees on Alasparx.

Before they left, Aaron waved his hand while grinning at the Galaxy High team, and their outfits transformed into formal clothing. Josh was wearing a full black tuxedo, Brett was wearing a white suit, and Yoko had a pink flower dress that reached just below her knees. The crown prince himself wore a black tuxedo as well, adjusting his red bowtie and strapping on his now-well-hidden katana.

"You guys should hold on to your weapons as well, things will turn ugly," he warned, and they secretly hid both their GH weapons _and_ the weapons Aaron gave them, with some help of Aaron's magic, of course.

"Are you guys ready to crash a wedding?" Yoko asked, encouragement in her voice, hiding the nervousness and worry she held in her heart.

Josh's dark blue eyes were grave as he nodded. "Let's go," he determined, turning to his ultra-pet, "Fluffy, you stay here and watch the hornet. If you see us running back, start up the hornet so we can get outta here ASAP, got it?"

Fluffy barked in understanding and with that over with, Josh, Yoko, Brett and Aaron left to rescue the princess of Alasparx before it was too late to save her.

"Where do you think the wedding will take place at?" Brett implored.

Aaron's blue eyes scanned the area before answering, "Well, I've been here before on business terms and such, and there's a certain sanctuary building in which I'm almost a hundred percent sure that the wedding will be."

"Lead the way," Yoko offered, and he did, carefully sneaking and navigating them through the narrow streets.

"Hey Aaron," Brett suddenly called quietly, "why don't you just use magic to get us into the sanctuary?"

"A good question, Brett," he commented, "Magic leaves a mark or a type of signature everywhere it's used, even if the mark is just for a moment. Once I use magic and we appear in front of the sanctuary, my magic's distinct signature will instantaneously alert Chris that we're here. We'd lose the element of surprise there."

"Oh…" he mouthed in understanding.

"Come on, let's hurry," Josh urged, "We don't have any time to waste. The wedding should already have started. No one's here."

"That's right," Yoko realized, "they would all be at the wedding! That means that we can get around without any worry about guards or people."

"That's right," Aaron agreed, "But be careful, Chris may have set several traps for us if he expects our arrival. Now, follow me."

The four teens snuck through the town until they reached a large, grey-stone building. They pressed their ears to the large wooden door, attempting to listen to what was going on inside. The only window on the front was the huge round one near the top, but none of them were even _close_ on being tall enough to look.

"Do you, Princess Emma Stiles, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" they heard the priest ask, and immediately, they burst open the doors, causing everyone to look at them, including the bride and groom.

"We object!" Brett shouted, and Josh, Yoko and Aaron raised an eyebrow at him. "Well… uh… just trying to make it look a little professional."

Chris was wearing a black tuxedo, quite similar to Josh and Aaron's. His hair was neatly brushed and trimmed. Emma was in a beautiful white spaghetti-strap gown, her black hair tucked into a tight neat pile on her head with her bangs curled. The transparent veil was sitting upon her head but pulled back, and she held a small bouquet of red and pink flowers. There was no train to her dress, so she could escape quickly if need be, and she wore flat white slippers. A white crystal hung from a silver chain around her neck. She looked so beautiful, but immediately the team took notice that her normally aqua blue eyes were a bloody red instead.

"Emma!" Josh shouted at her, and her eyes flickered blue for a moment before returning to the flaming red.

"What did you do to my sister?!" Aaron demanded threateningly, his eyes blazing with fury.

Chris wrapped an arm around Emma's waist, pulling her close, making Josh furious. "Your _sister_," he hissed, "was just about to become my wife, before _you_ interrupted, of course."

_Sister?_ Emma thought, as her subconscious gave her memory flashes of her and her brother together.

A guard dressed in completely black armour and holding a spear in his hand walked over to Chris and asked, "Sir, should we-?"

"No," he cut off, "leave them be, I'll deal with them myself. Escort the guests out through the back, if you please."

The knight bowed. "Yes sir," he said emotionlessly before giving a signal to his men, who began to lead all of the wedding guests out, including the priest.

Emma hugged herself closer to Chris. "Chris, who _are_ these people? W-Why do they look so familiar?" she asked.

"We're your friends, Emma!" Yoko called as the group walked closer.

"Remember, you go to Galaxy High with us," Brett reminded, "We're teammates, and study buddies!"

The princess dropped to her knees, her hands clutching at her head as she dropped the wedding bouquet. Blue was mixing with the red in her irises as she fought for control. "W-What?" she breathed, "T-Teammates?"

Chris struggled to keep her under his enchantment, so he kneeled down beside her, took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately, _right_ in front of the others. Her eyes fluttered close as she kissed him back, and when they opened again, they were red once more.

"How _dare_ you soil her lips with your filthy mouth!" Aaron screamed, thrusting his hand out and sending a powerful wave of electric energy toward the sorcerer.

He lifted his hand and a force field appeared, just barely deflecting the attack.

"You'll pay for what you've done to her!" Josh yelled, throwing his own hand out and an uncontrollable wave of fire flew.

Evilly, Chris pushed Emma down the steps and in the path of the attack. Aaron, knowing Josh could not yet control his power, grabbed his arm and made a desperate attempt to keep the fire from burning his sister. When the smoke and fire cleared, Emma sat between the burned benches, her skin untouched by the flames. She stood up and looked at them with confused and compromising red eyes.

"Argh," Chris growled, his hand extended toward Emma, "Your usefulness has ended."

He slashed his hand sideways and her eyes widened, the red completely disappearing and the normal aqua returning, before she took two shaky steps forward before collapsing, and Josh swept in just in time to catch her, holding her close against him.

"Emma!" he exclaimed, shaking her gently.

They all watched as her eyes fluttered open. "W-Where am I?" she mumbled before looking up at Josh. "Josh?"

"Emma! You're back!" he exclaimed joyfully.

"You're okay!" Brett and Yoko added.

Aaron smiled and nodded in approval, still keeping his focus on Chris.

"You were under an enchantment placed by Chris that's kept you from us for a while, and nearly tried to make you marry him too," Brett explained, "But we interrupted just in time."

She blinked open her eyes fully and sat up, turning furiously at the dark sorcerer with blazing aqua eyes. "You!" she hissed acidly, grabbing hold of Josh's hand and throwing out her own at Chris. A wave of water and electricity washed over Chris and entrapped him in a huge ball of power before it exploded as she closed her hand, the whole place suddenly covered in steam.

"Go!" Emma yelled, trying to stand but failed. Josh picked her up in his arms and ran out with the others.

They all stopped in their tracks as they found they were surrounded by guards.

"Damn it!" Aaron breathed, gently twitching his fingers to create a hidden but powerful energy bomb in his hand.

"There's no way out," Yoko added, her eyes wide in fear and worry.

They all turned around as they heard footsteps approach. Out of the mist stepped Chris, his tuxedo ruined as cuts and burns littered the dark fabric. He removed the bowtie and unbuttoned the first two buttons on his white shirt and the dark coat, making him seem more casual now. His eyes were glittering with amusement as he glanced at Emma.

"And I thought you had lost your powers due to the poison," he chuckled.

She glared back at him as Josh carefully set her down on her feet. "I have," she agreed, "but that doesn't go for Josh's powers."

"Huh?" Josh stammered, taken aback. That power she had just used… was _his_?!

"You borrow some of his powers without his permission for your own selfish reasons of revenge?" Christopher teased, "How dark of you to do so."

She scoffed, "Funny, the last time I checked, that was for all of us to escape, and not for the sake of revenge."

The sorcerer suddenly threw a dark ball of energy at them, and quickly, Emma latched onto Josh's hand and thrust her hand towards the sky, creating a huge green force field that protected them from the attack.

"Now, Aaron!" she ordered, and the prince threw the magically-made stun bomb at the surrounding guards and it exploded.

Immediately, Emma dropped the force field and they ran as fast as possible to the hornet.

As the smoke cleared, the guards were about to go after the group when Chris stopped them. "Halt," he ordered, "Let them go. They'll come back, trust me."

* * *

**Well... I hope you've liked this chapter!**

**Please Review and I'll update as soon as I can! (:D thank you so much if you review *winks* lol)**


	10. Return to Galaxy High

**Well... here's the new chapter to The Real Deal on the New Recruit. Hope you guys like it! Wow... we need more Team Galaxy fanfictions. Hmmm... well... hope you've liked this story so far!**

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Ten: Return to Galaxy High

"They're not chasing us!" Brett noted.

Both the Stiles siblings grimaced. They knew that Chris knew that they'd be back to take back the crown of Alasparx and the freedom of both worlds.

"Well, let's not slow down as to let them catch us," Yoko added.

"I appreciate that you came to save me," Emma began, the anger in her voice rising, "but Joshua, you could have been killed!"

He looked taken aback at her sudden anger. "We couldn't let you get married to that… that creep," he retorted.

She growled in defeat. "Point taken," she agreed, clenching her hands into fists tightly, "The sooner we get back to Galaxy High, the better." She stumbled for a moment and tripped, tumbling to the ground. "Oof!" she groaned before looking back up and shouted, "Go! I'll catch up! I've got a little detour I need to take." She got up and turned a corner, the opposite direction of the hornet.

"Emma!" Josh exclaimed, about to go after her, but Aaron stopped him.

"No, Josh!" he snapped, "She'll be alright. We'll meet her at the hornet."

Hurriedly, the rest of them ran into the hornet, where Fluffy had already started it. Now they impatiently waited for Emma to come along.

"Come on, Emma, where are you?" Yoko said quietly, looking desperately out on the horizon.

"We've got visitors incoming," Brett informed the group.

They peered into the distance and saw Emma flying towards them with her wings. She was being chased by several guards, who shot beams of energy at her, which she skilfully dodged before flying into the hornet and yelling, "GO!"

Immediately Josh took off, and the GH marshals and Alasparx royalties flew out of Veralix and towards home.

"Emma, where were you?" Aaron demanded.

"I went to set our general's free. Chris kept them in cells close to where we were heading, and so I set them free, and they're splitting off to other planets until they're called by either you or me," she explained, "They're going to see if they can find any refugees from our planet and get them to help retake out planet and free the others."

"And so I take it those guards were formally guarding the prison?" Brett guessed, "The ones chasing after you?"

She nodded, removing the veil off her head. "In truth, I don't have much memory of what happened to me while I was being controlled. I suppose Chris sealed that up when he released me from the spell. I'll break that seal once I get my powers back, so I can continue my list of why I've gotta take revenge on him."

Aaron noticed something odd and snatched her wrists and looked at her palms, they were badly burned. "Emma, what happened to your hands?" he asked.

"Well," she began, snatching her hands back, "take it as a price for borrowing other people's powers without their verbal permission. Don't worry about it, they'll heal soon enough."

Josh's hands tightened on the wheel, his knuckles whitening. _Oh great, first I get her into trouble because she saved my life, and now I'm also responsible for burning her hands. I'm gonna be so guilty by the time this long-term mission is done,_ he thought grimly, _Well… the good news is that she's okay and back here with us, _not_ married to Chris._

Gently, the prince took his sister's hands and closed his eyes, his hands glowing a blue aura as they healed her burns. When he let go, the burns disappeared, the angry red skin fading away too.

"Thanks, Aaron," she thanked quietly, stumbling forward before he caught her.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

She looked at him. "Feeling a little weak, that's all," she assured, "I'll be feeling much better once we get back to Earth. Then she looked over at the team. "By the way, why are you guys all dressed up?"

"Well… we were 'going' to attend what was going to be a wedding, so Aaron chose us an awesome selection of clothes," Brett explained, "Do you like it?"

She giggled, "It looks cute on you, Brett. Maybe you should wear that to the next Galaxy High dance. That dress suits you, Yoko, you look really good wearing pink." Then she glanced over at Josh with a teasing smile on his face, seeing that his eyes were averted from her, his cheeks turning pink as he tried very hard to keep his eyes on where he was going. "Very dashing, Josh. That tuxedo makes you look pretty handsome."

His blush deepened at her compliment. "T-Thanks…Y-You look b-beautiful y-yourself in that wedding dress," he re-commented.

Emma chuckled, "Thanks."

Aaron gently lifted her in his arms and set her down in the seat above Josh's. Then he looked down at the team leader. "Now, Josh. Once we get back to Galaxy High, we need to discuss your training," he informed.

Josh gulped, "T-Training?"

Emma slipped on a comm. device on her ear and brushed away her curly bangs. "Of course. You really need to practise controlling your powers," she elaborated, her eyes glittering with sadness, "I won't be here the whole time to help you, Josh."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Brett inquired, a little concern in his voice.

"Yeah," Yoko agreed, "Aren't you going to stick around and help us out? Josh won't be able to do this without your help."

"I will, however, there is still a chance that I will die saving the life of another before Josh's training is complete," she answered, "If that becomes the case, Aaron will take over training Josh."

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen," Josh said grimly, "But Emma, how are you suppose to train me without your powers? They still won't be restored for another few days."

The princess laughed, "Just trust me, Josh, just trust me. There's a lot you need to conquer first before even _beginning_ to use your powers."

Mentally he sweat dropped. _How hard is her training going to be?_ He thought in a state of panic.

"Hmmm… we're approaching an asteroid field, so Josh, be careful," Yoko warned.

"This could get rough," Brett warned Aaron and Emma, "especially what with Josh's driving."

Both of them laughed as Josh protested, "Hey! It's not my fault I like to have fun!"

"Don't worry, I like to have a good drive once in a while too," Emma agreed, "Let's see what you got!"

"All right!" Josh cheered, "Hold on tight everyone!" He shouted in ecstasy as he flipped and turned the hornet upside down and in spirals, dodging various asteroids and making Yoko and Brett panic.

"Josh!" Yoko screeched, "Get us outta here!"

He laughed, navigating them out of the field of space rocks. "Man, that was fun!" he exclaimed.

"That _was_ pretty exciting," Aaron agreed as he held onto Emma's seat.

"Yeah," Brett agreed before yelling, "IF YOU WANT JOSH TO GET US ALL KILLED!"

"Nah, I don't think Josh would let himself do that," Emma disagreed, brushing her curly black hair behind her ears as she fixed the hair on top of her head, "Hmm… I'm curious at how the maids got my hair into such a nice fashion like this. It's kinda cute."

Aaron waved his hand and her hair automatically untangled from the top of her head and neatly rolled down to her shoulders in slender waves. "I like it more when it's back to normal. But you're right, it looks pretty cute on you. Maybe I'll help you put it up like that again next time you're going to a wedding. Or else the next time there's a dance or ball," he teased.

"Well… there _is_ the Galaxy High school dance next week," Brett informed.

"Ooh!" Yoko squealed, "I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun!"

Emma pulled back her hair and let it fall around her shoulders before leaning back against her chair, looking down on her computer screen. "Incoming transmission," she announced.

"Put it on screen," Josh ordered, and with a few quick types on the keyboard, the face of Principal Kirkpatrick came onto the hornet screen as Fluffy projected the image.

His grey eyes glittered with relief as he saw that Emma was with them, completely unharmed. "Good job team," he congratulated, "I see you successfully rescued the Princess." The principal dipped his head at the two royals. "Princess Emma, Prince Aaron."

"Principal Kirkpatrick," they both said in union.

Aaron grinned, "We're entering Earth's atmosphere right about… now!" and with a single wave of his hands, the hornet was suddenly within the view of earth.

"Whoa!" Brett, Josh and Yoko gasped.

"We'll be back in a few minutes. Permission to land?" Emma added, standing up.

The grey-haired principal dipped his head and finished with, "I'll be seeing you soon, marshals." And the transmission ended.

Aaron sighed and collapsed, his sister catching him as if she expected it, a small smile on her face as she lowered him down onto her knees as she sat down on the ground, resting his head against her shoulder.

"Aaron!" Yoko cried.

"Aaron?!" Brett and Josh gasped, looking back at the unconscious prince.

"Don't worry about him," Emma reassured, "he just needs to sleep. Teleporting the hornet in that distance really took it out of him. A good night's rest is all that he needs, and he'll be back to normal in the morning." Gently, she kissed him on the forehead, her eyelids fluttering as she began to feel a little faint herself. Then she shook her head, trying to stay awake.

Fluffy whimpered and pawed over to her, nuzzling against her.

"It's okay, boy," she sighed quietly, patting the ultra-pet on the head, "I'll be fine. I just need some rest myself. I also need to give up my own strength in order to use Josh's powers, and since I had to take so much, I-" Her aqua blue eyes closed and she collapsed, her body silently hitting the floor. The ultra-pet nuzzled against her before barking worriedly at Josh.

The leader looked over at Yoko. "Yo, take over for me and ease us in," he ordered, before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting up. He begin to make his way up. "What's up, Fluff?" he asked before suddenly noticing that both Emma and Aaron were passed out unconscious on the floor. He ran over and picked up Emma in his arms, shaking her gently. "Emma? Emma?" he called desperately.

"Josh, what's wrong?" Brett asked, as the leader and two unconscious royals were out of his and Yoko's view.

"Both Emma and Aaron have passed out now," he informed worriedly.

"Are they okay?" Yoko inquired.

"Don't worry," Brett reassured, "I'm sure the princess just passed out because she was tired. I suspect it took a lot out of her to try to break from the enchantment Chris placed on her. I'm also guessing that she was tired from taking Josh's power, considering she had burns on her hands from doing so."

"I _really_ need to learn to control my powers," Josh noted, setting her down on the ground, "but I have a feeling that she's going to set me through some rigorous training once we start." Then he re-strapped himself into the driver's seat and took back control of the hornet as they entered Earth's atmosphere.

"Hornet number one, permission to land," the guy at the controls said.

Easily, Josh landed the hornet on the ground, where his father was waiting with a smile on his face. Emma's eyes fluttered open as it touched down.

"A-Are we there yet?" she asked quietly.

As the team got up to get out, they noticed that the princess had awoken and was sitting up, a hand on her forehead.

"Emma, you're awake," Brett said, matter-of-factly.

"Y-Yeah… I-I just need to be in the sunlight," she muttered, "Josh, d-do you think you can take A-Aaron? Y-Yoko, please help me outta here."

Josh picked up Aaron on his back and Yoko helped Emma up, throwing her arm around her shoulder and helping her out.

"Welcome back, marshals, Your Highnesses" Principal K. greeted, but his eyes widened as he saw the two weakened royals, "A-Are you both okay?"

"We're fine," Emma breathed, "Give me a moment."

Her eyes closed as her wings appeared as she stepped into the sunlight. She hovered over the ground, a shimmering golden aura surrounding her for a moment before fading and she landed gently on the ground, her eyes opening. She looked more back to normal, but her eyes still seemed strained and tired.

"Okay… that was a little strange," Brett couldn't help but comment, "What happened?"

"My strength returns when I'm in the pure sunlight breathing Earth's air. The same happens on my own planet of Alasparx. I'm still tired, but more in the mental sense than the physical one," she explained, looking at Principal Kirkpatrick, "What time is it? I've been under Chris' spell for a while and so lost my perception of time."

"Well… you were taken just yesterday morning, and now it's about 2:30," he answered, "You and your brother should get some sleep. You've both had a long day, especially yourself, Your Highness."

She dipped her head. "Josh, do you mind taking him to rest in the room you and Brett share? I'll return to our room right now."

He nodded as his father turned to Yoko and Brett. "Marshals Yoko and Brett, come with me to my office and give me a full evaluation of the situation of planet Veralix if you can, or at least, to be best of your knowledge," he ordered.

"Yes sir!" both marshals shouted and followed the adult as Josh and Emma headed over to their dorms.

Very carefully, Emma helped Josh get her brother into bed, tucking him in. She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, putting her hand over his forehead and it glowed, a soft blue light emitting from her hand and flowing into the prince.

She sighed, "There, that should help him restore his strength."

Both of them returned to their own room and Emma went to quickly change into a simple nightgown and hidden shorts before crawling into bed, letting her head rest against the soft pillow. Josh closed the blinds and sat at her bedside, letting the back of his fingers stroke her cheek gently.

"I was worried about you," he muttered, "I was worried that Chris was going to hurt you, or make you do something you didn't want to."

"Thanks for your concern Josh, but my heart and mind aren't without a little resistance to magic," she chuckled quietly.

He leaned down and let his lips rest on hers, closing his eyes. "I love you, Emma," he whispered before kissing her again.

"Love you too, Josh," she sighed as her eyes didn't reopen, "Don't bother calling me nor Aaron for dinner. Believe me, I'm not joking when I say that we won't wake up until at least tomorrow morning."

Joshua Kirkpatrick laughed, kissing her on the forehead. "Don't worry, Emma," he assured, his eyes sparkling, "I'll let you both sleep. After seeing what you two did today, I think you both deserve it."

"Thanks," she murmured, yawning, "Night…"

"Good night," he whispered, his fingers brushing over her cheek and lips before leaving the room. Almost instantaneously after he left, Emma fell into a deep healing sleep.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! **

**Please Review!**


	11. Magic Fever? Or Something More?

**Well... here's the next chapter to The Real Deal on the New Recruit. I hope you like it!**

**It's going to take a while until I can get the next chapter up, so please bear with me. lol. (Well... I guess it'll be a while until I update ANYTHING!)**

**Hope you like it! **

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Magic Fever? Or Something More?

The following morning after the rescue from the wedding, Josh lazily woke up to the sound of his alarm.

"Fluffy, you wanna get that for me?" he moaned, putting the pillow over his head.

The ultra-pet barked and quickly went to go turn off his alarm before jumping onto Josh's bed, climbing on top of him before jumping off and onto Emma's bed. He nuzzled into her hand, and didn't get a response. He barked again, sensing that something was wrong.

"What is it, Fluff?" Josh groaned, peering at the ultra-pet from under his pillow.

The robo-dog barked once more, and his owner crawled out of bed and walked towards the princess. He immediately noticed that sweat was rolling down her forehead and her hands clenched. Her breathing was quietly laboured, and her face constantly tensed as if suffering.

"Emma?" he asked, resting a hand on her forehead but suddenly snatching it back as if she would bite. She was so warm, her forehead almost burning hot. Worriedly, he took her hand and noticed it was icy cold.

"Emma? Emma?! What's wrong with you? Wake up!" he exclaimed, shaking her. In panic, he pressed his ear against her chest to listen to her heart. It was beating furiously, and this only worried him more. He turned to his ultra-pet. "Fluffy, go next door and wake Aaron. Just do whatever to get him over here," he said urgently.

Immediately Fluffy ran out the door and to the next room, where he barked loudly and began jumping on Aaron's bed, barking in his ear to wake him up. The prince sat up abruptly and exclaimed, "What? Fluffy! What are you-"

Fluffy barked at him with sad and desperate eyes and ran out the door. Aaron figured something must have been up and followed as Brett struggled to get out of bed. The robo-dog led him back to Emma and Josh's shared room, and found the leader next to his sister, shaking her.

"Josh, what's wrong? Is something wrong with Emma?" he asked as he went next to them.

"Aaron! Emma's burning up and her hands are icy cold. She won't wake up and she looks like she's in pain," Josh blubbered out.

Very calmly, Aaron rested a hand on his sister's forehead, closing his eyes. His hand glowed a bluish light before fading to a shimmering gold, and then his hand was shot back altogether. He shook out his hand for a moment to recover, and then said to Josh, "Well… it's nothing _too_ serious. She has the magic fever."

"Magic fever?" he repeated, "What's that?"

"It's a magical sickness in which a person contracts a fever and cannot be healed by magic. Like when I just tried to heal her, the fever shot back my magic. I'll need to go to a certain planet to get some medicine for her," he explained, "Due to her recent exposure to powerful dark magic, she's a lot sicker than normally would be."

Josh was still a little confused. "But how did she get it in the first place?"

"Well… probably from both her exposure to Chris' dark magic and using your powers just yesterday. It probably overloaded her system, considering she doesn't have her own powers to protect herself," he answered, "This fever is quite rare, as only people who can control and use other people's powers can only get this. I didn't expect that Emma would get it, considering her inner power. I guess her senses were just overpowered by the power and strength of the Alphaspark, though I honestly don't blame her."

The leader's eyes looked pained. "S-So…" he began, "I-It's _my_ fault?"

Aaron grimaced. "Technically yes, do I blame you, no? I don't think Emma would either. She only did what she could to protect all of us," he responded in a monotone, "She knew the risks, though I don't think she expected that the fever would be _this_ serious."

"O-Of course not," they heard a raspy voice say.

Both boys turned to see Emma's eyes barely open, a small smile on her lips, the pain flashing in her half-opened eyes.

"Emma, you're awake," Josh said in surprise.

"C-Can't g-get rid of me t-that easily," she breathed weakly, "A-Apparently I've contracted m-magic fever."

"Yeah," Aaron agreed bluntly, "I'll be heading off soon to fetch you some medicine. Until my return, Josh, I want you to stay here and take care of her."

The rebellious teen's eye's looked shocked. "Wha? Me?"

"Of course," the prince smirked, "You _do_ love her after all."

"And it's only till Aaron gets the medicine," she sighed, closing her eyes and she breathed deep, "But… the planet's far, and usually the people there don't take kindly to strangers." She coughed, her heart thumping uncontrollably, her back arching in pain. "I _really_ don't think I'll be able to s-swallow much. M-My throat feels like it's constantly constricting. Water would be nice right now."

"Hmm…" Josh and Aaron took a moment to think before Josh went to get a bottle of water, putting some in his mouth before pressing it to hers, making her forcefully gulp down the water from his lips.

"O-Okay," Aaron said awkwardly, "Not what I had in mind. But it's very effective."

Emma coughed weakly as she choked on the water slightly. "T-Thanks," she breathed.

Josh smiled, brushing a trickle of water away from her lips. "No problem. Let me know if you need anything else."

The prince of Alasparx stood up, walking over to the door. "Well… I'll be heading out now to go get the medicine. Josh, you stay here with Emma. I'll let the rest of your team know where you are, so they can come join up with you if they want. Emma, I'll try to be as quick as I can, but you know just as well as I that it will take at least a few hours."

She nodded, adjusting her head back into the pillow. "Please hurry, Aaron. This pain is going to be unbearable in a few hours. I'll probably want to be extra sedated or something. Somehow, I think this may _more_ than just a magic fever."

He grinned. "You know you can't be sedated, or else there's a possibility you may never wake up," he argued.

She sighed, "And that makes me even _more_ depressed." She groaned at another spark of pain.

"Well…" he retorted, "at least you'll have Josh to keep you company and ease your suffering… in more ways than one." He chuckled, leaving the room.

"Now, give me a moment," Josh informed, gently brushing away her bangs from her hot forehead, "I'll go get some cold water for you."

"O-Okay," she moaned, closing her eyes, "Please hurry."

As he went to get some icy cold water from her bathroom, Yoko and Brett entered, walking over to sit at Emma's bedside.

"Oh," Yoko cooed, "You poor thing."

"Well," Brett began, "Aaron said it was some rare sickness called 'magic fever'."

The karaoke wannabe blinked, looking at the 10-year-old with worried eyes. "Is it just me, or her skin getting paler?" she asked.

Josh walked back into the room, with a cloth and bowl of cold water. "Oh, hey guys. I didn't hear you come in," he said, sitting beside her closer to Emma's head. He dipped the cloth in the cold water, squeezing it near-dry before patting it against her forehead.

Gently, Emma slipped her hand in his, and instantly he realized just how cold it was. "J-Josh," she rasped, her voice growing weaker as her eyes fluttered barely open, "E-Everything's... going so dark… I-I can't… I-I can't…" And with a sigh, her head tipped to the side as she fell unconscious.

"No!" Josh cried, gripping the limp hand tightly in his as he pulled it against his chest.

Quickly, Brett pressed his fingers against the side of her warm neck, feeling for her pulse. "Her heartbeat is weakening!" he exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?!" Yoko cried.

"I'll alert Principal Kirkpatrick immediately while you take her to the infirmary," Brett instructed, "Her breath is getting shallow. Time is running out. We've got to hurry all we can."

Josh swept Emma's limp body up into his arms and quickly carried her out, Yoko following behind him. They ran past various classmates until they reached the infirmary, the three bursting through the door and the alien nurse looked at them in alarm as Josh laid Emma on the patient's bed.

Yoko grabbed a breathing mask and placed it on Emma's face and turned it on as the nurse hooked her up to a heart rate machine. Her heart beat faintly, and the repetitions were slowly decreasing.

"Come on, Emma," Josh urged, "Breathe. You can't die on us yet. We still need you. _I_ still need you!"

Suddenly, her heart stopped beating completely, her head tilting to the side limply. It was too late, she was gone. Josh's hand tightened around her limp one and pressed it tightly against his chest, tears dripping from his dark blue eyes as he stared into her lifeless face, knowing that her beautiful light aqua orbs wouldn't open again.

Yoko dropped to her knees, tears spilling from her eyes. "W-Why? I-I thought Aaron said it was just a simple magic fever!" she sobbed.

Brett suddenly ran into the room, shouting, "How is the princess?!"

Josh looked at the 10-year-old, tears glistening in his eyes. "She's dead, Brett," he whispered as he cradled the fallen princess in his arms, "We were too late."

"W-What? B-But, but that's impossible!" the child exclaimed, trying not to cry, "I-It was just a fever, wasn't it?"

"Emma, I'm so sorry," Josh choked as he sobbed quietly against her, his cheek pressed tightly against her cold and pale forehead, "I loved you a lot, you know that, right? I will always love you, no matter what happens."

Without warning, her body glowed a pale gold before it vanished in sparkles, and a strange ferret lay upon Josh's lap.

"W-What happened to Emma?" Yoko inquired, wiping away tears as Brett helped her up.

The ferret blinked open familiar blue eyes and groaned, "Okay, that felt weird…"

"Emma?!" the team exclaimed, "You're alive!"

"And… you're a ferret…" Yoko added, "What's with that?"

Josh hugged the ferret against him, nuzzling against her soft brown and white fur. "You're alive," he whispered, "That's all that matters." _You're so warm,_ he thought.

She snuggled out of his embrace and wrapped herself around his neck, laying her dark paws on his shoulder. "Now, I better explain to you guys what's going on. It's true that I have caught magic fever, and I still even have it now, but I'm not as weak in animal form as I am in human form," she explained, "It seemed I have something more deadly than magic fever, and before it could completely claim my life, I transformed into a ferret, except with unnatural blue eyes and can talk."

"But you're so cute!" Yoko cooed, patting her on the head.

"You _are_ pretty adorable," Brett agreed.

Josh nuzzled his cheek against her fur, and she laid down on his neck, wagging her tail gently. "I thought I lost you," he told her quietly.

The ferret looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Joshua. I didn't mean to make you worry. Now, we need to contact Aaron. We need to find a cure for me."

"But what is it that you have?" Brett inquired.

Josh picked her up off his neck and cradled her in his arm as he took her to the scanner bed, placing the small body upon the flat surface. The nurse activated it and she was placed under the scanner, the light flashing over her before an x-ray image appeared on-screen.

"Um… even though I know I failed biology," Josh began, staring at the screen with concern, "I don't think that strange black clump of mist should be there next to her heart, more or less, be there in her body at all."

"Oh, how very strange," the nurse muttered, "It seems that black mist is attaching veins onto her heart."

Brett looked worried. "We definitely need to tell Principal K and Prince Aaron about this," he said.

They all heard a groan coming from inside the scanner, and the bed was pulled out from under it, Joshua picking up Emma's frail ferret body in his arms and cradling her against his chest, her smooth white belly exposed as her paws hung.

"Josh?" the ferret spoke.

"What is it?" he replied, looking down into small blue eyes.

"I think we should go talk to your father, from his office we'll contact Aaron and figure out what to do there. I have a feeling he should still get that magic fever cure, but I have a feeling we need to go get this _thing_ next to my heart eliminated too," she explained weakly, "Even if my magic fever is cured, I could still die from this other thing killing me."

Brett raised an eyebrow. "Do you think Christopher cause that strange misty thing in you?"

She nodded, her paw scratching at her pink nose. "Please," she sighed, "Let's just go. Oh, and just to let you guys know, if I suddenly transform back to my human form before taking any of the medicines, I'm probably dead."

"We're not going to let that happen," Yoko reasoned.

She looked up at Josh with small blue eyes. "Hmm… it feels weird being a ferret," she commented, "It makes me feel… kinda small."

"That's how I usually feel," Brett said, "Don't worry, you get used to it after a while."

"Right…" she retorted, sighing heavily as her head fell against Josh's chest, "Until we get there, let me rest…"

Gently the 16-year-old kissed the ferret on the top of her head before adjusting the tiny body in his arms. _She's so cute in this form…_ he thought, _I just want to hug and squeeze her, but… that would probably choke her though._

The nurse handed Yoko a tiny bag of ice, and she placed it on Emma's forehead, which she kept up with a paw.

"Thanks, Yoko," the ferret thanked gratefully, "Now my head doesn't hurt as much."

"It's no problem," she replied, "Now let's go talk to Principal K. He's probably worried."

They left the infirmary and began to walk towards Kirkpatrick's office. Unfortunately, they ran into Bobby, who snatched Emma right out of Josh's arms, thinking she was just a normal ferret.

"What's this, Josh?" he teased, throwing her up into the air and catching her, "Keeping pets, are we now?"

"Let her go, Bobby!" Brett shouted.

"Just give her back!" Josh ordered, "She's really sick."

Bobby stared at the ferret, sneering. "If she's so sick, maybe I should break her neck and give her a release of death," he challenged.

"Please stop this foolishness and let me go," Emma sighed, looking at the student with tired blue eyes, "I'm going to see Principal K. if you really must know."

He shrieked in shock and surprise and viciously threw her against the wall, hearing the crunch of fragile bones breaking, the tiny body crashing lifelessly to the ground. "It talks!" he screeched.

"No!" Josh cried, rushing over and dropping to his knees next to the fallen creature, "Emma, Emma, wake up! Open your eyes!" He tried to pick her up but hesitated when he felt a warm liquid soaking into her fur, when he looked he saw a crimson red liquid.

"Is she okay?!" Brett exclaimed.

"Is she hurt?!" Yoko chimed.

"I-Is that… blood?" Bobby asked fearfully as he approached them.

Josh focused his mind and concentration on healing her before she died. _Come on, Emma, _he thought, _I can't lose you. Not now, not ever. I need you so much._ His hands glowed a powerful blue aura and enveloped the frail ferret body, sealing up her wound and restoring the blood lost from her body.

Small blue eyes blinked half-open and she said weakly, "Josh, stop. Please. You'll hurt yourself if you continue any further."

His hands shook as he tried to repress his powers, successfully doing so, collapsing back on the ground. "W-W-What happened?" he breathed.

Emma stood up on all four paws, shaking her fur and pouncing onto Josh, making him fall onto his back as she scampered so she could look into his eyes. "Thank you, Josh, you saved me," she said gratefully, moving down to kiss him on the lips. She sighed, lying down on his chest, "If only I was human again, I could give you a proper kiss."

His hands rested on her furry back. "Then I'll wait until when you return to normal," he said.

"W-W-Wait," Bobby said, "You're human?"

She raised her head and looked at him. "My name is Emma Stiles, princess of the planet Alasparx in the alpha-delta quadrant. I'm sick at the moment, therefore can last longer with less pain if I am in animal form, in which is why I am a ferret. Now I'm thinking I should have turned into a baby unicorn or something."

"E-E-Emma Stiles?!" he exclaimed, "I-I'm so sorry, princess. Forgive me for my outburst and mockery."

Josh sat up, holding the ferret in his arms. "That's right, Bobby. You should be on your knees begging for her forgiveness. Have you _met_ her older brother? He's harsh."

Yoko picked up the tiny ice pack and handed it back to Emma, in which she held back onto her head with her paw as her stomach pressed against Josh's arm. "Let's get going."

"I'm sure Principal K would _love_ to hear about our little interruption," Brett said, "Not to mention the princess' near-death experience."

Bobby went down on his knees and bowed to the tiny creature Josh held in his arms. "My sincerest apologies, princess," he apologized continuously, "Please forgive me for my rudeness and harshness."

"Well… I _would_ say 'no blood, no foul'," she began, "however, you _did_ nearly kill me. But… Josh _did_ save me, which was pretty impressive considering he hasn't practised using his powers. _So_… I guess I'll let you off the hook this time, but don't think I'm not going to keep my eye on you."

"However," Josh continued, "even though she's forgiven you, don't think I'll do the same so easily."

Without waiting for a reply he walked off with Yoko and Brett, quickly heading to Principal Kirkpatrick's office, rapping lightly on the door.

"Come in," a familiar voice inside called.

They opened the door and walked in, closing it behind them.

"Um…" Principal K began, blinking at the funny ferret in his son's arms, "Josh, what's with the ferret?"

"I'm a little surprised you don't recognize me by the eyes," Emma spoke as she gently removed the ice pack from her forehead, tossing it on the desk as she hopped from Josh's arms onto the principal's desk, lying down as she swished her tail while replacing the ice pack on the other side of her head.

"There's a perfect and logical explanation to all this," she continued, laying her head down on her paws and closing her eyes, "Josh, Yoko and Brett will explain… I'm going to take a quick rest." She yawned before peacefully dozing off.

All three of them gently stroked her fur before Yoko began the short story.

"Well… to put in the simplest of terms, her so-called magic fever turned out to also be something far worse that it seems Christopher placed on her," she explained, "She nearly died from it, and so as a last resort she transformed into a ferret, because in animal form she'll last longer."

"We're planning on giving Aaron a call," Josh continued, "so we can let him know of her condition. We think he might know where to find a cure."

"Did Aaron happen to take a defender?" Brett inquired, jumping directly to the point.

"Uh, yeah," Principal K. replied, "made some interesting modifications with magic before he left too." With a few taps of the keys on his keyboard, Aaron's image filled the screen.

"Hey Principal K., what's up?" the prince greeted coolly.

However, his easiness only made the principal's frown deepen.

"I'm sorry to change the mood, but your sister's in trouble," Josh's father informed gravely.

Aaron's eyes widened. "What?! Where is she?! Is she okay?!" he demanded, now a little jumpy.

The adult turned his computer screen towards the sleeping ferret with the ice pack on her head.

"Ah! Emma!" the older Stiles exclaimed, standing up from his controls, his hands trembling into fists as his handsome face tightened, "Damn it… so it's resulted you to _this_ form… this is a grave matter indeed…"

"When we went to do a bio-scan on her, it seems there's this weird black gas thing next to her heart," Yoko added, "obviously it's Christopher that did it. Do you know a cure?"

He sat back down into his pilot's seat, sighing heavily. "Magic, disappointingly. But because she still has magic fever, it's impossible to cure her of that gaseous thing before curing her magic fever. If anyone tried or successfully managed to do something to her now using magic would probably kill her faster," he answered.

_Uh oh…_ Josh thought before saying, "Um… Aaron? She was badly injured just a few moments ago… and… I kinda healed her."

"_Please_ tell me you're joking," Aaron said in a monotone voice, his eyes blazing in fury.

The three marshals shook their heads, Josh's father looking at them sternly.

"And why did she need healing?" he demanded.

"Um… Marshal Bobby kinda… threw her…" Yoko explained slowly, "against a wall… and you know how ferret's bodies are fragile and all… you know… her bones… broke… and there was blood…."

"But then Josh healed her and everything was better!" Brett added quickly.

"Marshal Bobby did this?" Principal Kirkpatrick emphasized, raising an eyebrow.

Aaron shook his head. "I'll trust you to deal with him later, Principal Kirkpatrick," he said, "As for now, I'll get the medicine as soon as possible and you should get to the sanctuary. Josh, Yoko, Brett, you guys still have that key I gave you guys?"

They nodded.

"We'll take her there immediately," Brett agreed, looking at the resting ferret, "She'll be better soon, right?"

"More or less, yes," the prince replied, "I can easily gain access to the sanctuary after I get the medicine from the planet."

"What is this planet you keep talking about?" Yoko asked curiously, "You've never actually told us the name."

He seemed to bite his lip, as if he was scared to tell them. "Um… let's just call it 'Planet Double D Delta' for the moment. I can't tell you guys exactly what planet I'm heading to…" he explained, "You're not to know this kind of planet actually exists."

"O-Okay…" Josh trailed off, "In any case, we'll head off to the sanctuary and await your arrival. Some nice sunbathing should do some good to Emma."

"You can say that again," the ferret agreed, raising her head off her paws while swishing her tail back and forth, "Hello Aaron. Hope you aren't _too_ worried about me."

"Hmm… you're awake," he pointed out obviously, "how do you feel?"

Her blue eyes sparkled dimly. "I'd feel a whole lot better if I wasn't a ferret, not that I _have_ anything against them, but I don't like the fact that I'm this vulnerable. Magic-less, defence-less, and useless," she said depressingly, laying her head back down between her paws while looking down at Principal K's desk, her tail thumping depressingly on the wood.

Aaron sighed, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with you on that. However, you _can_ still assist Joshua in controlling his powers. Just… don't let him use it on you."

"If you insist," she replied in a sad voice, not moving her head, "Don't be too rushed as to not be careful. I worry about you too… especially while you're going _there_."

He winked, a broad smile forming on his face. "Don't worry. With the status as acting-crown-prince of Alasparx, I'll be fine. See you later!" The connection was soon cut and the screen went black.

Yoko gently stroked Emma's fur. "Awww… you're not useless to _us_, Emma," she reassured.

Josh kneeled down to look her in the eyes and spoke to her quietly. "I love you, Emma," he murmured, making her ears prick in alert.

She glanced over at him and blinked sad aqua eyes, tears dripping from the blue orbs. "I love you too, Josh," she sighed, letting her tail flop limply on the desk as she got up on her paws, "Let's go get the key and also go to my room, there's something I need to get."

"What is it?" Brett asked curiously as Josh offered his hand out to her, the ferret scampering up his hand.

"A communicator," she replied, curling around Josh's neck, "It's time to call some backup."

* * *

**Ooh... BACKUP! Yay!**

**anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. Call For Backup

**Ahh... as I promised you, ~Migido667, a new update by at least late monday night. I hope you like it!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Call For Backup

When Josh carried Emma back to the room, she hopped off his arm and onto her bed, scrambling towards her closet, leaping up to unlock the door with her paws before landing on the floor on all four paws. Tiredly, she scrambled up to one of the drawers and pulled it open, diving in and rummaging through the various items.

"Um… you find it?" Josh inquired.

"Yeah," she replied, pushing the cell phone-like-device out with her pink nose before leaping down next to it, "Hold onto it for me until we get settled at the sanctuary."

Her legs soon collapsed and she crumpled to her belly on the carpet.

"Emma," Josh said in alarm, kneeling down next to the transformed princess, "are you okay?"

"Josh…" she moaned, "I'm weakening by the minute. Time's running out."

He gently stroked her back, his fingers brushing against warm fur. "Don't worry. Aaron will get the medicine in time."

She scoffed softly. "I never knew I'd die like this," she commented, closing her blue eyes, "_But_, then again, knowing my brother, he's not going to let me go _that_ easily."

"And neither will I," Josh agreed, "you're going to be alright."

She sighed, getting back on her paws shakily. "I hope so, Josh. I really hope so."

Ever so gently, Josh picked her up as he placed the communicator in his pocket. "Don't worry, the team and I will take care of you. At least until Aaron arrived with the medicine."

She smiled, nuzzling against him with her pink nose. Chuckling, she told the marshal, "I love you, Josh."

"I love you too, Emma," he replied, hugging her close as Yoko and Brett walked in, Fluffy training at their heels.

"Awww…" Yoko cooed, "They're sharing a moment."

Brett grinned childishly. "Sorry to interrupt guys, but we've got the key. Let's get going. Now… how do we use this key?"

"Close your eyes and hold it tightly in your palm. Then imagine the golden door in front of you," Emma instructed, "The key will scan your heart for your true intentions of going to the sanctuary and either allow or reject your ask for entry."

The 10-year-old's eyes widened as he glanced down at the tiny golden key in the palm of his hand. Closing his eyes, he clenched it tightly and the key glowed, a golden door appearing in front of them.

Fluffy barked in surprise.

"Wow… so it seems like the squirt isn't a threat," Josh teased, "Big surprise, eh?"

"Ha, ha, ha," Brett retorted sarcastically, "let's get going before Chris tries to attack us."

"Here at Galaxy High?" Yoko scoffed, "Doesn't seem too likely, wouldn't you agree Emma?"

The ferret looked curiously at them. "Actually, I'd have to agree with Brett on that one," she disagreed, "you all saw how easily he entered the sanctuary, and Galaxy High isn't that hard to break into, especially when you have magic to assist you. With the amount of magical powers Chris has at his disposal, it'll be like taking candy from a baby."

"Then let's go!" the karaoke queen cheered enthusiastically.

All four of them walked in and the door closed behind them as they appeared in the beautiful field. The door disappeared into a flurry of butterflies and flew off.

"Wow… it – the door, I mean, just disappeared!" Brett explained.

"Yeah," Emma sighed while staring up at the blue sky.

Suddenly, Star the gryphon flew down and landed in front of the marshals. Chirping, Star nosed his beak gently against Emma's pelt and into her outstretched paw.

The princess chuckled. "So you've recognized me, my friend," she commented, leaping from Josh's arms onto the gryphon's back, settling down on the soft feathers.

Turning to her team, she said, "Come on, guys, get on. We've got a ways to go, not really."

Hesitantly, Josh and his team climbed onto the gryphon's back, instantaneously remembering their previous flying experience.

"Let's go, Star," Emma told her winged friend, and they flew off to the skies.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Soon enough, the team landed near a large tree where they dismounted Star and noticed a picnic awaiting them. The gryphon chirped once before flying off.

Emma scampered onto the red and white checker picnic blanket, curling up into a ball and laying her head on her paws, sighing relaxingly.

Josh sat down cross-legged beside her, gently scratching her behind the ears, smiling down at the ferret.

Emma lifted her head as Yoko and Brett sat down. "Oh yeah, there's sandwiches and other foods inside the picnic basket. Help yourself," she informed, pointing with the tip of her tail at the straw-yellow picnic basket.

The marshals opened up the basket and gasped at the food awaiting them.

Josh kindly set a can of motor oil with a bended straw for Fluffy before placing a delicious-looking strawberry in front of Emma and placed the communicator next to her.

"Thanks," she replied, pulling the strawberry in-between her paws and nibbling at it, "Mmm… very tasty indeed."

After wiping her paws and face with a napkin, she nosed open the cell phone-like communicator, starting to push buttons with her paws. She then sat back and watched as it rang out loud.

"So, who are you calling?" Brett inquired.

"You'll see," she answered enigmatically.

All of a sudden the top screen lit up and projected the image of a handsome young man in a plain brown tunic and dark slacks. He had piercing forest-green eyes and black hair. In the background the team could tell he was in some sort of strange cloth hut.

"Hendricks, secure," he stated.

"Stiles, secure," Emma replied, swishing her tail, "Hello Lucian, it's been a while since we last spoke."

He looked a little surprised at her form. "Princess," he began sternly, "what ails you so to be in this form?"

"Magic fever," she informed, "and I've been poisoned by Christopher Richand's magic."

The young man nodded gravely. "May I so ask who are these with you?" he inquired.

"Marshals Joshua Kirkpatrick and his team Yoko, Brett, and ultra-pet Fluffy." She introduced, "Guys, this is my old friend Lieutenant Lucian Hendricks. His older brother Darien is the commander of the royal army, and just so-happens to be the best of buds with Aaron. He is also a good friend of mine."

Lucian dipped his head in greeting. "Hello. My elder sister is also in the imperial army. Her rank is tactician and general," he added.

"Are they there with you on that planet?" Emma inquired.

"Yes," he replied, "are we to rendezvous with you at the sanctuary?"

The ferret princess nodded. "Preferably yes. Come ASAP. I will be awaiting your arrival soon. Emma, out."

With that, the transmission ended.

"Who was that guy?" Yoko inquired, "He looks so young!"

Emma sighed sadly, "He's only 17."

"And he's already a lieutenant?!" Brett exclaimed in surprise.

The ferret lifted her head and looked at them. "When Lucian was 8, Darien 18, and their sister Sarah 15, their parents were killed in a bandit raid on their small town outside of the capital of Alasparx. Darien and Sarah, at the time, were already studying in the tactics and warfare divisions, as their father was a mentor in swordsmanship and their mother, a gifted healer and nurse." She explained in a sad tone, "Ever since that day, all three siblings have worked extra hard in their studies. Even though I was still so young, I had still seen than my share of violence. Especially that one time… when I was only 10 years old…"

"What happened?" Josh inquired curiously.

"I met the young boy that was my soon-to-be fiancée." She sighed, "He saved my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

"Ooh! Let's hear about him!" Yoko squealed excitedly.

Brett looked concerned. "Wait, but aren't you being unfaithful to him by being Josh's girlfriend?" he queried.

She shook her head. "My fiancée's name was Elliot James Richardson, the 14-year-old son of a nearby kingdom-"

"But I thought the Stiles family ruled all of Alasparx," Yoko interrupted.

"They do," Brett answered, "but don't you think it's hard for a single family to manage all the affairs of the entire planet? So the land is divided into several kingdoms, where every month the kingdoms send a representative to the capital of Clarlake, where the Stiles family lives, to report in what has been happening in their kingdom the last month. Marrying between kingdoms is not uncommon. Even though all kingdoms are under the rule of the Stiles royal family, it's not illogical that they can rebel against their rule, therefore, marrying between the kingdoms are to ensure trust."

"You've been doing a lot of research, haven't you, Brett," Josh teased, looking back at Emma and noticing her blue eyes were sad.

"I-Is something wrong, Emma?" Yoko dared to ask.

"Just… remembering Elliot hurts," she admitted, "Elliot, my beloved fiancée, he… died saving my life. He died in my arms… and I should have been able to save him, but… I couldn't. That fateful day, I lost the young man that had been the love of my life."

* * *

**Ooh! Her ex-fiancee comes into the picture! Who was he? How much did she love him? WHO DO YOU THINK KILLED HIM?! **

**aha, you'll have to find out next chapter. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	13. The Fiancée She Had Loved

**Well... here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it! Thanx for the reviews and support so far!**

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: The Fiancée She Had Loved

Josh felt a sharp pang of jealousy in his heart for a deceased man he'd never met.

"W-What happened to him?" Brett asked in a choked tone.

Emma sighed depressingly, "As I had said, he died saving my life. I lost him when I was 13. Elliot was 17 at the time, and… well… we loved each other very much. It's been almost three years since his death… and the loss is still so fresh. This was why I originally intended to reject Josh's initial feelings for me, because I didn't want to experience losing another person I loved again."

"Oh, you poor thing," Yoko cooed, picking up the ferret and hugging her tightly before setting her back down.

"D-Do you think you could perhaps tell us a little about him?" Josh inquired quietly, "Like… how did you first meet?"

The ferret sighed, blinking tears from her blue eyes as she recalled the frightening memory.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_"Princess, we'll be arriving back at the castle in a few hours," the carriage driver informed as he peered inside the large wooden carriage. The windows were covered with pieces of silk cloth. _

_"Thank you," a 10-year-old tall and mature-looking Emma Stiles responded as she sat watching the forest as they past. She sighed to herself._

Hmm… my fiancée from the neighbouring kingdom will be arriving any day now. I wonder whether our arranged marriage will work out. I don't even know his name! Or even _which_ kingdom he's coming from! All that I know is that he's four years older than me. He might not even like me! Maybe I'm going to end up hating the guy. _She contemplated, sighing once more, _Ugh… I hope Aaron's not planning to make us have children if that's the case… _She shuddered at the thought before laughing quietly to herself. _Well… all guys have their certain sense of charm. I guess… I just have to find his.

_Several guards surrounded the carriage as they marched on, when suddenly, a single arrow flew swiftly through the air and struck the carriage driver in the chest, killing him instantaneously. The guards gasped before their captain shouted to them._

_"Surround the carriage!" He ordered, "Protect the princess!" _

_All of a sudden, dozens of black-clothed warriors leaped out with weapons and quickly yet swiftly cut down the guards. They luckily managed to hold off the assassins long enough for Emma to draw out her dagger to protect herself. _

Oh, what am I suppose to do now?! _She thought fearfully, _I can't take them all on my own! If my guards can't handle them, how am I even supposed to stand a chance?!

_As the last guard fell, the doors on both sides of the carriage were ripped open viciously. _

_Emma gasped, "G-Get away from me!" She lashed out with her dagger in an attempt to defend herself._

_One of the assassins easily grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the carriage and throwing her onto the dusty ground, the danger flying out of her hand. _

_"W-What do you want with me?!" Emma yelled. _

_Without a response, the assassin stabbed her in between the ribs and she let out a cry of pain. _

_"Our master wants you alive," he hissed, twisting the blade, "but he didn't say you didn't have to be unharmed."_

_Even though she was weakened and wounded, with the magic she could control, she blasted them with a gust of powerful wind, but it seemed to do little harm to them. _

_"N-No…" Emma breathed as her consciousness began to slip. Her wound burned, and she knew very well that the blade had been dipped in poison. Her vision began to fade as her limbs felt numb. She felt herself being picked up as the knife was left in her body, making an imperfect plug to the bleeding._

_Without warning, heavy and quick hooves pounded against the forest floor before a young man with chestnut-brown hair and chocolate eyes rode towards the site and threw a dagger at one of the assassins, successfully bringing down one of the henchmen. He wore a sleeveless brown tunic with a long light brown shirt underneath, dark black pants matching the pelt of the horse as he prodded his boots gently against the horse's side, making him speed up. A belt hung around his waist, a sword attached to the side._

_"Release her!" he shouted as he drew his sword, leaping off the horse into a defensive yet offensive position. _

_The remaining assassin henchmen stepped back warily. _

_"Who are you?" the man holding Emma hissed. _

_Chocolate eyes narrowed. "You need not know who I am, only that I am the prince of the kingdom of Larvale," he answered, "Now, release the princess!" _

_"We cannot do that," a female said, "our master ordered us to bring her back."_

_Golden flames appeared around his body and enveloped his sword, cold anger burning in his eyes. "Release her," he hissed in a lower, more threatening voice._

_From the raging flames, what appeared to be a golden dragon flew around the young prince while growling. Then the dragon roared, unleashing flames aimed at the assassins, who jumped back in surprise. Emma was dropped onto the ground and the group of black-clothed people ran off, the golden dragon giving chase._

_Immediately Elliot James Richardson sheathed his sword and quickly approached the fallen princess, his hand gently tracing around the wound, trying to contain the damage as much as possible. Emma winced and her beautiful blue eyes fluttered half-open, meeting his chocolate ones. _

_"W-Who are you?" she rasped._

_He gave her a small somewhat-forced smile. "I'm someone who's here to help. Conserve your energy, Princess Emma. The wound is deep and the poison is spreading fast." He chided her, picking her up as he took her back towards his horse, "I'll take you back to Clarlake as fast as I can. Your brother His Highness will worry." _

_Sitting the princess up on the front seat, he mounted up behind her and let her lean against him as she drifted back into unconsciousness, her head rolling to rest upon his shoulder as he leaned over her protectively. _

_"Let's hurry, Ash," Elliot said, talking to his horse, "We've got to hurry back to Clarlake." _

_ xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx_

Ugh… _Emma thought, _My ribs hurt… W-Where am I?

_Light aqua eyes fluttered half-open to look up onto a familiar blue-green canopy. She tried for a deep breath, and winced when she felt a spark of pain in her ribs. She felt bandages tightly wrapped around her torso, as well as on her forehead and arms. She was wearing a simple, loose, midnight blue dress, the silky fabric brushing against her skin when she tried to move._

I'm in an infirmary room, _she thought, _I'm back in Clarlake.

_"So you're finally awake, Princess," a somewhat familiar voice stated._

_She turned her head slightly to see the young man with chestnut-brown hair and chocolate eyes look at her. He wore a similar outfit to that of the day he rescued her. He sat in a chair, one leg over the other, his head resting on his hand as his elbow sat on the chair arm._

_"I-It's you…" she whispered weakly, "who _are_ you? W-Why did you save me?"_

_He stood up and bowed to her. "My name is Elliot James Richardson. I am the prince of the neighbouring kingdom of Larvale," he introduced, standing back up and sitting on her bedside, "And the first reason why I saved you… is… well, why _wouldn't_ anyone save the beautiful princess of the planet of Alasparx? And as for the second reason… well… of course I'd save my _fiancée._"_

_"Y-You're him then?" she breathed, a little surprised, "Hmm… funny how we met though. We were originally supposed to meet the night of the ball."_

_He sat down on her bedside, brushing away black bangs from her bandaged forehead. "Well… it's too late for that. The ball was supposed to be 5 days ago," he informed._

_She turned her head to look out the window, noticing all of outside was pitch dark. "Ugh… how long was I asleep?" she dared to ask._

_"A whole week now," he told her, "your brother has been very worried about you. Actually I sent him off half an hour ago by telling him I'd watch over you for the next little while."_

_She let out a gentle breath. "Have you been staying by my side for the entire week?" she asked in amazement._

_Elliot nodded. "I'll admit I was worried about you; worried whether you were ever going to wake up or not. When I saw the blade, the wound, I knew it wasn't good. Truthfully, I helped out with the healing process. The wound was bad, and… I wouldn't allow myself to let you die," he explained, reaching out to touch her cheek. _

_Slowly but surely, her hand found his and he held it against his chest. _

_"Thank you, Elliot. You rescued me, saved my life, and stayed with me this whole week. How can I ever repay you?" she inquired._

_He smiled as he stood up to lean over her body. "Just one way," he whispered, gently placing his lips on hers as he closed his eyes._

_At first Emma was a little surprised at how soft his lips were on hers, and she closed her own eyes, kissing him back gently, her hand finding its way onto his cheek, her thoughts a little scrambled. _

Wow… he's _nothing_ like I had imagined, _she thought as she continued to kiss him, _He's a lot… kinder and more gentle then I expected.

_Elliot's arms softly snaked around her back, pulling her up and closer to him when she winced, her lips abruptly pulling off his. _

_"Ah, I'm so sorry, Princess," he apologized immediately, gently setting her back down on the bed, "I didn't mean to hurt you." Then he sighed, "I really _am_ sorry. I forgot that you were still healing."_

_She smiled warmly. "It's okay, Elliot. And please, call me Emma."_

_Resting his lips on her forehead with his eyes closed, he whispered, "Emma… _my_ Emma."_

_"By the way," she said, "what happened to the guards protecting me? Are they okay? Were they the ones who found you and got help?"_

_He pulled back and looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry, Emma, but when I arrived, only you were alive. Your guards were slaughtered."_

_He watched as pain found itself into her eyes. She was only 10 years old yet she had experienced such fear, pain, and agony that she never deserved. "H-Have their families been notified?"_

_Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door before Aaron walked in, noticing his sister was awake and ran over to throw himself over her, making her groan loudly. _

_"Aaron!" she shouted, "You're hurting me! Heavy!"_

_Immediately he stood up. "Emma, you're awake! You've been asleep for a whole _week_!" he exclaimed._

_"So Elliot here has been telling me," she sighed. _

_Elliot kneeled on one knee in front of the acting-king, his fist to his chest. "Your Highness," he greeted formally. _

_"Ah, get up, get up," Aaron chided, helping him up, "Prince Elliot, there's no need to kneel. Bowing is just fine, and anyway… you're going to be part of the family, so there's no need for such formalities." _

_Emma winced as she tried to sit up, both Elliot and Aaron placing their hands on her shoulders, easing her back down. _

_"Emma, you shouldn't be moving," her fiancée chided, "you're still hurt. The poison has caused your healing process to slow gradually. It's blocked off your own healing powers within you and initially it was difficult to heal your wounds. The poison is still flowing inside you."_

_All of a sudden, Emma's back arched as a cry escaped her lips, her wound bursting into dark purple and black light. _

_"Emma!" both Aaron and Elliot shouted. _

_Her body flopped back onto the bed before she snapped up once more, coughing up blood before she rolled off the bed, smacking against the floor as she became motionless, her head tilting to the side. _

_"Emma?" Elliot choked. He noticed that the wound reopened, and as he kneeled down to heal her, the wound burst into light that flooded the room, and when Elliot and Aaron looked again, they were shocked at the sight. _

_A man lay upon Emma, his black cloak concealing their bodies as his fangs sunk in her throat, draining what lifeblood she had in her. His claws were at her shoulders, talons buried deep in her back. _

_"Let her go!" Aaron shouted, drawing his sword._

_Elliot followed suit and slashed the monster in the back, not even fazing the vampire in the slightest._

_Growling in frustration, Aaron shot a jolt of searing fire at the vampire and once again, no damage was done. _

_"We've got to hurry. Only ways to kill a vampire protected by magic is a blade through the heart," Elliot stated, "But we can't risk hurting Emma." _

_Aaron summoned up a necklace of garlic and threw it on the monster killing Emma, the necklace sliding off harmlessly. "Dammit, we have no choice," he agreed relentlessly, "Emma's going to die unless we do something." _

_Elliot gritted his teeth as he forcefully plunged his sword through the vampire's heart, and the fangs were ripped from Emma's throat as it hissed in agony. Elliot's sword also entered Emma's chest, and she gasped as her eyes flew open, pain raging in the blue orbs before they slipped close as the vampire turned to dust before their eyes. Blood streamed from her lips and down the side of her pale face._

_"Emma?!" As Elliot yanked his sword out of her chest, he dropped the blade and gathered her against his chest, feeling the lifeblood flow out of her neck, chest, and ribs. _

_Aaron dropped to his knees next to them and felt his limbs grow heavy as he knew time was running out for his little sister. He placed his hands over the chest wound and began to heal her, his hands glowing a blue light. "Come on, sis, wake up," he urged quietly._

_Elliot's chocolate eyes began to fill up with tears. "I'm so sorry, Emma. Please, open your eyes," he begged, staring into her seemingly-lifeless face._

_Brushing away the blood from her lips, he leaned down to kiss her, allowing what healing powers he had within him to flow into her. The small contact started to envelope both their bodies in a brilliant blue light, and Aaron snapped his hand back in surprise. Pulling her closer to him, Elliot wrapped his arms around her till his chest pressed against Emma's, tears dripping onto her cheeks as he kissed her slowly by desperately. Steam hissed from her wounds as they began to close and heal over completely. _

_"I-Impossible," Aaron breathed. _So the stories were true,_ he thought, _the magic healing of love's kiss. But… they only _just_ met.Right??? According to what the stories say, the like-love needs to be from both recipients. So… does that mean Emma is beginning to fall in love with Elliot? _Already?!_ Wow… talk about love at first sight. Not to mention I'm a little surprised that Elliot has fallen for my sister so quickly.

_Elliot pulled his mouth away from Emma's, looking at her worriedly. "Emma, please, open your eyes. Wake up."_

_A sigh escaped her lips, her eyes opening slowly to meet his. "E-Elliot?" she whispered, slowly sitting up against him, "W-What happened? Aaron?"_

_Her brother tackled her, hugging her tightly. "Emma! You're alive!" he exclaimed._

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Emma smiled to herself as she finished explaining how she and Elliot met. Her tail swished and thumped against the picnic blanket softly.

"That's so sweet," Yoko cooed.

"But… what killed him?" Brett inquired, "Who would tear your love apart?"

"Who else?" she scoffed, "Christopher Richands. First he tried to kill me. Then when Elliot tried to protect me months later…. He killed him."

* * *

**Hmm... another cliffy. bwahaha. I guess you'll just have to wait till next time!**

**Please review!**


	14. The Death of a Prince

**Well.... this will probably be the last update for a while, considering school's starting up again. **

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! **

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: The Death of a Prince

Josh gently stroked the ferret's soft pelt. "Emma," he said softly, "this man has done you so much hard. I promise I'll make him pay for what he's done to you, and to avenge Elliot."

"Thank you, Joshua," she returned, her voice hard and stern, "but the vengeance is mine and mine alone. None of you need to bear my burden, nor my pain."

"But at least let us into your heart," he argued, "We care for you, you know."

Closing blue eyes, she recalled a memory of her painful past where her beloved fiancée had said the exact same words to her.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_"At least let me into your heart,"17 year old Elliot whispered, looking at the 13 year old Emma, "I care for you, you know that? I can't let you give yourself up to him. He'll kill you."_

_She pulled away, tears streaming from her eyes as the shouts of battle raged outside. "I know you care for me, and I know that you love me as I love you, but… I cannot allow you to bear my burden. It would break my heart if you had to share my pain." _

_As she was about to take a step forward, Elliot grabbed her arm and pulled her against him, forcefully enveloping her lips in his, kissing her deeply. _

_"I love you, Emma," he told her, keeping her taut against his armoured body, "I always will. I'll protect you, I promise."_

_"I love you too, Elliot," she cried, "so much. But you've got to let me do this. You've got to let me go! With my sacrifice, I can end all of this suffering. I'm only looking at what's best for my people." _

_"No!" he shouted in defiance, pulling her closer, "What about me? How do you think I'm feeling when my fiancée wants to get herself killed at the hands of the man who's slaughtered many of Alasparx's soldiers?! I _love_ you, Emma. I love you with my body, heart and soul! Don't do this!" _

_His voice cracked throughout and tears fell from his own chocolate eyes as he fell to his knees in front of his fiancée, his hands squeezing hers tightly as he repeatedly begged her to stay with him. His hand ran over the rainbow crystal ring on her finger; the engagement ring he had given her when he had formally proposed to her in front of the whole royal court and their guests at Emma's birthday ball._

_"When I gave you this ring," he choked, "I promised myself I would protect you from all harm. I won't break that promise." _

_She gave him a sincere and sad smile. "So be it."_

_Using magic, she restrained him against the wall with chains of powerful magic with a wave of her hand. "I love you, my beloved Elliot, and I'm sorry it has come to this," she murmured as she approached him, giving him a loving kiss as she made-out with him for those few precious moments before pulling away, walking away from him entirely. They both knew she was walking to her death. _

_"EMMA! EMMA!" he screamed after her, trying to break free of the magical chains. Sobbing, he allowed his body to sag limply, only letting bitter sorrow begin to break him. _

_"No!" he scolded himself, "I can't allow myself to crumble, I've got to save her!" _

_Focusing his own magic, he tried to free himself from her enchantment and failed. Then he continued to struggle, hoping his bounds would break free on their own. _

_"Dammit," he swore, "she's serious about securing me here. She's using the full power and prowess of the Twilight Princess of Alasparx. But… I've got to save her! I can't allow her to die! That is the one thing I cannot allow; the woman I love to be so willingly harmed by a man we both hate." _

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Emma took a deep breath, looking at the man she hated so much. _

_"So you really _are_ ready to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your people?" 16 year old Christopher smirked evilly, "You really have been pathetic, princess Emma." He stroked her face. "And you're such a young feisty beauty, are you now?"_

_She did not flinch from his touch, knowing it would only show her weakness. Her blazing blue eyes glared at him. "You're here to kill me, aren't you? Then do it already. I'm right here, open and unarmed except with magic. I'm not resisting, and I'm prepared to die for the ones I love." _

_He smiled at her that sent mental shivers down her spine as he pulled out his sword. "Then die you shall," he announced, driving his sword forward and stabbing her through the chest until the hilt of his bloodied sword pressed against her chest._

_"You honestly believe that your death would save your people?" he whispered into her ear, "A fool you truly are. A fool of a beautiful princess." _

_Twisting his blade, Emma coughed up blood, painfully staring into the eyes of her soon-to-be killer. Yanking his blade out from her, she dropped to her knees in front of the Veralix ruler before collapsing to her side, letting her eyes slip close as her magic deserted her, her life barely hanging by a mere thread. She was fading, she knew, time was running out for her. _

I'm sorry, Elliot, _she thought, _I'm so sorry. I-I love you so much….

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_As Elliot continued to struggle, the silver chains keeping him against the wall suddenly vanished in wisps of white and silver smoke and he stumbled forward in surprise. _

_"No…" he whispered, knowing the only reason why the enchantment would disappear is Emma's death, "It can't _be_." _

_Running in direction of the throne room of the Alasparx capital, tears flew from his eyes as he desperately prayed in his heart that his beloved fiancée was still alive. Bursting through the huge double doors, he found the love of his life on the floor, the wound in her chest causing a pool of blood around her body. Her beautiful blue eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, and her body lay motionless in front of the man who put her there._

_"Murderer!" Elliot hissed furiously, drawing his sword as golden flames sparked around his body, enveloping him in a brilliant yellow light, "Do you think you would get away with this?! You've murdered my fiancée! The woman I loved! You'll pay for what you've done!" _

_He began to parry swords with the ruler, angrily lashing out with furious attacks and magic. But the younger teen blocked every blow easily, smirking. _

_"You're even more entertaining than Prince Aaron," Chris commented, "excellent. I suppose I'll have to deal with you in time."_

_"Never," a weak voice rasped, and they looked to see Emma, her hand outstretched towards them, her eyes just barely open, "you… shall never… so harm… the man I love…"_

_As her hand rose above her, a white ring hovered over her hand and waves flew out with powerful pulses, knocking Christopher back. The waves flew through the walls, knocking down all of the Veralix soldiers being knocked back to the ground before vanishing. _

_"W-What's happening?" Elliot breathed as the white energy past him to impact the evil ruler, soon making him vanish. He watched as the white ring vanished, and Emma's hand dropping lifelessly to the ground. _

_"Emma!" he exclaimed, dropping his sword and rushing to her side, pulling her onto his lap, "Wake up! Emma!"_

_Her eyes just barely opened, blinking up at him. "E-Elliot," she breathed, "I-I'm so sorry."_

_"You shouldn't have surrendered yourself to him. You shouldn't have given him the chance to kill you," he whispered._

_"I had to," she responded, "If I didn't… I couldn't have… saved the others outside… and I… couldn't have… saved _you_… I love you so much… and I'm so sorry…" Her eyes began to close as her head tilted away from him. _

_"No!" he cried, shaking her, "You can't die, Emma! Stay with me! I-I'll heal you!"_

_She looked at him. "Y-You can… only try… to save… me…" she choked, "t-the wound… is deep…"_

_"I only need to seal the worst of the wound, don't I?" he said optimistically, pressing a hand over her chest. _

_Emma could only weakly dip her head before her eyes rolled back and closed, her head drooping limp against the crease of his arm. _

_"Emma! EMMA!" he screamed, shaking her gently._

_There was no response, and he cried, "Please Emma, wake up. I love you!" _

_She didn't reply him, and he knew that time was running out. Pressing his lips against hers, he poured in as much magic as he could into the worse of the wound, making a desperate attempt to heal her. Her hand grew only colder in his hand and he began to lose her. _

_In desperation, he laid her back down on the ground and rested his hands over atop another over the wound, desperate to save his fiancée. _

You can't die on me, Emma,_ he thought, closing his tear-filled eyes and summoning every inch of power in his body, _you just can't.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"In the end I was saved," Emma the ferret princess concluded, "Elliot managed to seal up the worst of the wound and I was taken back to Alasparx for immediate healing. That was what initiated Christopher's knowledge to remove Elliot from the picture."

"Then… months later…" Yoko said in a quiet voice, "Chris killed him?"

She nodded, raising her head off her paws and looking at the marshals. "He heartlessly murdered the man I loved with all my heart."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_"EMMA!" Elliot screamed, running over towards her._

_"Elliot!" she gasped, fighting her way over to him._

_As they stood back to back, facing against the dozens of Veralix guards that infiltrated Alasparx's capital. _

_"There's so many of them!" Emma panted, wincing at a painful but shallow wound in her side. _

_"Are you okay?" he asked, also panting._

_"Y-Yeah," she breathed, lying while trying to conceal the wound on her back of her knee, "how were the guards outside holding?"_

_"They're managing," he answered, fighting off several soldiers._

_"Ugh," Emma moaned, collapsing down onto one knee as her wounded one broke down. _

_Immediately Chris mentally signalled for his men to move out of the way, quickly stringing his bow with a single arrow, aiming it at Emma's chest. Elliot noticed and cried her name while placing himself in front of her defensively right as Chris released the arrow. _

_"NO!" Emma cried as the arrow pierced through Elliot's armour and buried itself in the regions of his heart._

_Dropping her sword and gathering him against her chest. His head rested against her shoulder, his sweat-matter hair brushing against her soft armour._

_"Elliot! Elliot! ELLIOT!" she screamed, pressing him against her, glaring at the Veralix ruler, her long black hair beginning to float behind her, a vicious white aura surrounding her as the powers of the Twilight princess awakened deep within, her wounds hissing away and her clothes transforming into the ceremonial white long robes. Her aura flared wildly and uncontrollably as she let out a bitter cry, waves of power radiating from her as it lashed out against all soldiers around her, sending them flying back against the wall. _

_"_You_!" Emma hissed, her hand outthrust at Chris, an invisible grip tightening around her throat as she began to close her hand as if tightening around an invisible neck, "You did this! And you will pay for what you've done!"_

_"E-Emma," Elliot choked weakly, causing Emma to immediately turn to her fiancée, Chris and revenge forgotten. _

_Gently she stroked his paling face, tears falling bitterly from her eyes. "Elliot I'm so sorry," she cried, "this is all my fault." Moving her hand near the wound, her eyes brightening as she said, "I-I can heal you!" _

_With the last ounce of his strength, his roughed hand grabbed her arm, her skin soft and smooth to the touch as he let his fingers brush over the silky skin. _

_"Emma… you can't save me," he whispered, "e-even with… the powers of… the Twilight Princess…"_

_"I can't just let you die," she sobbed, breaking the arrow near the wound with her magic before hugging her against him, "three months ago you saved my life. I can't just let you die! I can't live without you! You're my whole world; my whole life!"_

_He gave her a small smile, his chocolate eyes beginning to dim. "You must…" he whispered, "I-I love you, Emma.... I-I always have… and… I'm sorry… that we were never wed…. But that doesn't matter… anymore…. Because my heart can only ever… belong to you."_

_"Elliot," she wept, "I love you so much… You can't leave me."_

_"Don't worry…" he reassured quietly, "I-I will… see you again… I-I promise. I will watch over you… always…"_

_His dazzling chocolate orbs closed forever, his head tilting limply away from her, his hand dropping from her arm and falling lifelessly to the ground. _

_"Elliot? Elliot?! Elliot! Elliot! ELLIOT!" she screamed, her arms wrapping tightly around his dead body, crying as she lost the most important person in her life in that one terrible moment. _

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You really must have loved him," Josh commented quietly.

"I-I thought that nothing and nobody would ever be able to fill that empty void in my heart," she admitted, looking at him with sad cheerful eyes, "but then I met you. I've learned to love again; to love another who loves me just as much."

Picking her up gently, he hugged her close against his chest. "Emma… I love you so much," he whispered, nuzzling his face against her pelt.

"Joshua, I love you too." She replied, "Elliot's death was all my fault, if only I had been able to protect him better. I promise I won't make the same mistake twice, I _will_ protect you, even if it will cost me my life."

* * *

**Well... that's it for now. I will update the next chapter as soon as I have time. **

**Hope you liked this chapter!**

**Please Review!!!!!!! PLLEEEEEAAAASEEE!**


	15. Revival

**Well... here's the long-awaited next chapter (for some people, anyhow.).**

**I hope you all like it!**

**Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Revival

"Emma, something's happening," Brett informed, and they turned to the shimmering spot where a portal soon appeared, three people stepping from it.

One could be recognized as the young man the team was previously speaking to, another taller man who looked like an older Lucian, and a young woman who had long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She had light green eyes, much like the green of her two brothers' eyes. All three wore velvety armour and had different coloured capes on their shoulders. Darien Hendricks had a red cape and matching dark red outfit. Sarah had a light and dark green outfit and cape, and Lucian wore a blue velvet outfit.

Taking note of the transformed princess, all three bowed and kneeled in front of her.

"Princess," they all greeted in union.

She dipped her head, acknowledging them. "Rise, all three of you." She announced, "I'm glad you all managed to come. You haven't seemed to change much over the course of a few months."

"Please don't take offense, but you yourself has changed Princess," Darien commented, "quite a bit… in fact."

Emma laughed, setting her head back down on her paws. "That would be due to myself having magic fever and Christopher Richands placing a death curse on me, therefore resulting me in this form in which I am waiting for my older brother His Majesty Prince Aaron to return with the cure to my magic fever," she explained.

"His Majesty Prince A-Aaron?" Lucian breathed, "I thought His Majesty disappeared two to three years ago."

"No, he showed up just days ago," Josh answered, "Emma was more than surprised, let's say."

"Okay, Princess Emma, who's this… rebel-like jerk who dares speak to you so informally," Darien demanded, glaring at Josh.

The ferret cleared her throat, sounding irritated. "This… 'rebel-like jerk' that you speak of… would be my current _boyfriend_, not to mention the _all-important Alphaspark that's going to save our world!_" she snapped, her voice rising near the end as she grew angry and impatient.

Groaning, she rested a paw on her head as she tried to calm herself down as the anger really hurt her head. "Augh…" she moaned.

Darien immediately bowed, his head also bowed towards Josh. "My apologies, prophesized Alphaspark. Forgive me, for I did not know your position."

"Anyway," Emma sighed, relaxing a little more, "this is my Galaxy High team; Josh, Yoko, Brett, and Fluffy. I apologize that I didn't inform you all of my whereabouts sooner, but as you all knew, I was the enemy's main target, therefore had to keep my location disclosed as I sought refuge at Galaxy High on Earth. Now, please sit."

They obeyed, all three of them sitting cross-legged on the grass.

"When Lieutenant Hendricks informed us of your call, we were ecstatic to know that you were alright and had survived the attack," Sarah informed.

"Wait… what attack?" Brett inquired, looking at the princess.

The ferret sighed once more. "Before I arrived at Galaxy High looking like how I did, I had just recently escaped from an attack and invasion of my home planet. It's a little too obvious who led the attack, and I was forced to leave by Darien, but he returned back to hold off the warriors after me, so it was unknown whether I left the planet unharmed."

"B-But you looked and acted like a normal teenager transferring to a new school," Yoko replied.

"I wasn't acting, I'm afraid. Galaxy High has a great reputation, and so I had planned it as my refuge in case anything had gone wrong on my own planet. Of course, only I knew this, and Principal Kirkpatrick was alright with it, as I had made a few calls to confirm with him and such. When we had to go back to Alasparx to check out the status of the planet, I was shocked as to how Chris had conquered my planet. With our forces I'd expect that we could have held them off. Apparently I was wrong."

"We apologize, Your Highness," Sarah apologized as she and her brothers bowed once more. "We called off our troops and ordered them to flee to their escape planets until we notified them for regroup."

The ferret shook her head. "No,

"But before we left…" Lucian began with a cheeky smile, "we also took along your spacecraft. The Hyper-bird SLF-50."

"Excellent," Emma said.

Josh whistled at the name, looking down at the ferret. "Sounds fast," he mentioned hopefully.

She smiled knowingly. "I'll take you for a ride after this whole ordeal is over," she promised, swishing her tail back and forth before yawning tiredly.

In truth, it wasn't tiredness that was beginning to overtake her, it was Death in disguise, just waiting for her to fall asleep, never to wake again.

"Lady Emma," Darien addressed, "how long until His Majesty Prince Aaron arrives with the antidote?"

"It is unknown," she answered honestly. "My brother said he would be here as soon as he could." Sighing, she laid her head down on her paws and closed her eyes, a tainted blue aura shimmering around her.

"I-Is that what's hurting her?" Lucian inquired, "Is that what's tainting her aura?"

"Yeah," Yoko replied sadly.

Emma looked back up at him as he asked, "Permission to hold?"

"Permission granted," she retorted, feeling a bit bored. But who could really tell when she looked like a ferret?

Very gently, the lieutenant picked her up, cradling her close as if she were a small baby.

"I daresay, Princess, but you look awfully cute in this form," he commented with a chuckle as he sent her some of his strength.

Josh laughed in reply, "I know, isn't she?"

As Lucian gently set her down, and Emma's tail bristled as her back arched sharply, coughing. Blood escaped her lips and stained the green grass, collapsing. Her sides heaved as she breathed deeply.

"Emma!" Josh, Yoko and Brett exclaimed.

"Your Highness!" the three Hendricks siblings chimed.

"I'm alright," she sighed, wiping the blood from her tiny mouth as she rested back on her stomach, laying her head onto her two front paws. "My brother better hurry. There's this terrible throbbing in my head, the place is spinning around me, and I feel like I'm going to pass out any moment now. Though… that may be only because I'm dying…"

As if on cue, another portal opened, and Aaron stepped through and it closed behind him. He was wearing faded blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a brown leather jacket.

With a cheeky grin he commented teasingly, "Did _somebody_ call for some medicine?"

"Your Majesty!" Lucian, Darien and Sarah greeted respectfully as they bowed to him.

"Oh… its _you_ guys," Aaron replied, a little taken aback. "It's good to see you all again. Please rise." He went over and kneeled next to his little sister, pulling a vial from his jacket pocket and uncorked it, pouring its contents down the ferret's throat.

In a burst of brilliant light, Emma's tiny body was consumed by rays of golden before the light faded, and the ferret now rested unconsciously against Aaron's hand.

"Well… that takes care of the magic fever," he stated, pressing his palm against her furry forehead while closing his eyes. "Now to dispel the poison killing her."

Rings of powerful magic pulses beat from his hand, pouring into her body. Her tainted blue aura appeared, and with the powerful reinforcing magic from Aaron, the black rim and spots faded, returning her aura back to its astounding ocean-blue colour. Not before long, her body glowed and suddenly transformed to her human form, her head resting on her brother's hand. White ceremonial robes hugged her body, her wrist bracelets tingling as they collided together.

"W-Whoa…" Brett breathed, "The Twilight Princess of Alasparx. But if that's true…" He looked at Aaron, his eyes wide. "That means you're the Sun Guardian, right?"

He smiled as he propped up his sister against him, her head resting against his shoulder. "You're well informed. You are correct. I am the guardian of the sun, as Emma is the princess of twilight."

As Emma's eyes slowly opened, she gazed up at her brother. "A-Aaron?" she mumbled, resting a hand to her forehead as she gazed at her friends and allies. "Whoa… I'm human again. And… I don't _think_ I have a fever anymore."

"Your Highness," Darien addressed, "do you have any memory of what happened while you had magic fever?"

"Of course," she answered as she stopped leaning on her brother and sat up. "I was just sick, not in a coma. But now that you mention 'memories', for the short time I was unconscious… I _saw_ something…"

"What did you see?" Yoko inquired.

"A part of Chris' plan," she told them in a quiet, slightly frightened voice. "He's going to summon the Leviathan, the legendary Beast of the Abyss."

* * *

**Well... that's it for this chapter. I apologize for how short it is, but I hoped you liked it anyway. I'll try to make the next chapter a little longer if I can. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	16. Training

**Well... here's the long-awaited next chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Training

Lucian, Sarah, and Darien Hendricks gasped at the name of the forbidden beast.

"What's the Leviathan?" Yoko inquired.

Brett looked thoughtful. "The Leviathan is an ancient beast that was sealed off by the first ruler of Alasparx, but at a terrible price. He nearly lost his life creating the seal to hold it back, as it was a price of blood. It's an unstoppable monster, who only listens to the one who releases it from its prison. Only one with royal blood can seal it back again."

Emma and Aaron exchanged a glance, knowing only one of them could stop it. As Emma was out of magic until the night of the next full moon, which was still a few days' time away.

"Do you know when he'll be unleashing it? Or where?" Darien demanded, "If it's Alasparx I can send some reserve troops-"

"It's not Alasparx," she interrupted impatiently, sighing with exhaustion as she moved to sit against Josh, who pulled her in between his legs and let her rest on him. "He's attacking Galaxy High. It'll be at the school in a few days. At least… that's what I recall. Ugh… my head hurts."

Gently Josh stroked her hair, burying his face in her hair as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay," he murmured to her, "I don't blame you after everything that's happened to you today. Close your eyes, rest. You deserve it after all the pain you've been through."

Looking up at him slowly, her eyes half-open, he leaned down and kissed her deeply. "Well… the good part about you being back to human is that I can freely kiss you now. Though the truth is, you were cute as a ferret."

"I know," she responded. "Now… more importantly, Josh, Yoko, Brett, you three will need some training. General Hendricks."

"Yes ma'am," she responded sharply.

"I'm placing you in charge of mentoring Yoko in the skill of archery for the next few days. Commander, you will be in charge of sparring with my brother for practice. And Lieutenant Hendricks, you will be in charge of teaching Brett. I myself will take charge of mentoring Josh in controlling his powers," Emma ordered. "Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" the three captains of Alasparx exclaimed before leaving with their respective students and friends to different parts of the field.

"So… what are we going to do?" Josh inquired his girlfriend.

"Close your eyes," she said with a smile. "Imagine a crystal clear pool, completely undisturbed. No ripples, nothing. Just… pure… silence."

Closing his eyes, he let the image enter his head, placing him in a calm trance. Emma's voice to him now was like soft music in a beautiful field under a clear night sky.

"Josh…" she began quietly, "this is what your mind needs to be like when you focus your powers and magic. Your negative thoughts are like stones being thrown into the pool, where you disturb the pool. That must not happen. Whatever _does_ happen, you must keep a clear and focused mind. It is the key to synching with your inner magic. Now… focus on the warm blues and gold's of your aura, and they will come to you."

_Blues and gold's,_ he thought, seeing in his mind's eye gold and blue weaving around the pool of water.

"Open your eyes," Emma ordered softly.

The team leader opened his eyes and looked into Emma's beaming face before looking down at his hands. A radiant blue and gold outlined his body, lapping at him.

"I-I did it," he murmured in amazement as he watched it fade.

"You _did_ do it," she agreed. "All you need to do is focus on that pool, and you can do almost anything. You just have to believe that you can do it, and imagine yourself accomplishing that. If you can successfully synch with your magic, you can do pretty much anything. The only limits that you have are the ones that you place on yourself."

"Hmmm…seems smart," he replied. "Do you think it'll work?"

"See? Doubt like _that_ is what I'm talking about that you should prevent," she pointed out. "You'll find that doubt it the highest and greatest limit one can put upon themselves. You can't doubt yourself, Josh. Find confidence in yourself, if not… find it in me."

Placing her hands over his, she gave him a soft and gentle smile. "I'll give you my hope and confidence if I have to. Just… don't give up. You have all of us by your side."

He nodded, understanding the concept she was trying to teach him; loyalty, and trust.

"Now…" she said, "continuing on…"

Closing her eyes, she pressed her palm against his forehead, and they suddenly appeared in a dark, empty room.

"Whoa!" Josh exclaimed as he looked around, "Where are we?!"

A tired groan could be heard from behind him, and he turned to see Emma standing behind him, staggering to stay upright.

Josh swept up to her and grabbed her against his chest.

"Emma, are you okay?" he inquired worriedly.

She nodded, standing herself upright once more. "We're still at the field in body. But in mind, right now we're in a special training center. I send my mind here to help me practice magic. Here, you can practice your magic. Now… focus your energy on summoning a fireball in the palm of your hand."

Closing his eyes and focusing on the red and orange flames, a spark appeared over his palm, and a pulsing fire burned over his palm.

"Excellent! You're doing it!" she gasped excitedly.

They threatened to burn out of control as he began to lose his focus.

"Ah! No! Calm down, control your emotions," she ordered immediately, noticing the strength of the flame.

Almost instantly Josh kept his emotions in check, and now the flame flickered back into control.

"Good, good," she complimented, nodding her head slowly. "Now… I want you to try quenching that fire with water."

Josh's eyes opened, but the fire remained stable. "How do I do that?" he inquired.

"Focus the fire in one hand, and focus summoning water in the other," she answered.

Instead, Josh accidently focused too much on fire, and it raged out of control on both of his hands. As the flames raged around them, it burned Emma's skin and she shrieked in alarm.

Almost instantaneously Josh extinguished the burning red flames and dropped to her side.

"Emma, I'm so sorry," he breathed, taking a look at her burned hands and arms.

"Its okay, Josh," she sighed as they cooled under her skin with her inner magic.

Gently he touched the burn with light fingers, worried he may hurt her, and she winced at the sharp pain on her sensitive skin.

"Sorry," he apologized, placing his hand over the angry red marks, closing his eyes.

_I want you to be healed,_ he thought, _I want the love I feel in my heart for you heal you. You're the one I want to spend my life with._

"A-Ah," Emma breathed, suddenly dropping into his arms. "J-Josh, stop. _Stop_."

Immediately he withdrew his hands, and he looked at her in shock. Her face had turned pale white, and her hands trembled, her red burn marks standing out even more.

"E-E-Emma, I-I-I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I-I don't know what happened. I-I just wanted to heal you."

Her azure eyes fluttered up at him as colour began to return to her face. "J-Josh," she breathed, "healing magic and summoning the elements are different. I don't want to make you feel guilty, but… if you had continued any longer… Josh… you would have killed me."

Josh's own face paled. "Emma…" he choked, tears threatening to well up in his eyes.

Reaching up, she touched his face gently. "It's okay, Josh, I'm okay," she told him quietly. "I love you… Joshua."

"I love you too, Emma," he mumbled back as he was kneeling with her on his lap.

After a few more minutes, she slowly began to sit up, her strength returning to her. She had her hand on her forehead.

"Ugh… my head hurts," she groaned, before standing up, Josh accompanying her and holding her up. "Now… if you _really_ _want_ to learn how to heal," she said, drawing a knife from her back and making a neat cut across the back of her hand.

"Emma! What are you doing?!" he demanded, taking her newly-wounded hand in both of his.

"This is your test," she answered stiffly, "close your eyes and don't focus on healing the wound. Instead, focus on your love for me. For the love of the one you want to heal. That's all you need."

Closing his eyes, he clasped her bleeding hand against his chest, focusing on the pulsing warmth of their shared love in his mind. He focused and recalled the memories of the time they first kissed in their room, their kissing session on the hill in the sanctuary, and the time she had relied on him to save her when she had been kidnapped by Christopher. He felt something strong emerge from within him, and when he opened his eyes again and withdrew his hands from hers, the wound was gone. There was little more than a hint of a scar, a paper-thin white line where the wound was.

"See? You did it!" Emma said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together.

Josh hugged her against him, and she pressed herself closer against his chest.

Pulling away, Emma added more seriously, "But remember one thing, Josh; there's a cost of strength every time you heal someone. If you had to heal a more serious wound, depending on how bad the wound is, you could pass out. That wouldn't be a good thing if you were aiding an ally in the middle of enemy territory. You're the Alphaspark. Your life is valuable. Even more valuable than mine."

His hand went under her chin. "Your life is valuable to me. It always will be," he whispered before leaning down and passionately kissing her.

As she softly kissed back, his arms wrapped around her, and her hands wound around his neck.

Too soon for Josh's liking, Emma pulled her lips off his, smiling at him. "Let's go back now," she said.

Closing her eyes, both of their consciousnesses returned to their bodies in the field, and Josh opened his eyes, still sitting cross-legged in front of Emma, who also opened her eyes soon after.

"Hey," she greeted, "so… do you think you could spark a fire again?"

He twiddled his thumbs together, looking down at them. "But… I don't want to hurt you… not again," he murmured.

She tipped his face up to hers with her hand, smiling at him with kind eyes. "You won't, trust me."

"Emma," he mumbled, touching her face. Closing his eyes, he held out his hands directly in front of him together, palms facing up. Focusing, he summoned up a single ball of fire.

"Good, good," she said in content, "Now put it out with a wash of water."

Thinking about water, a huge wave of water dropped from above him and drenched him and the flame, causing Emma to jump back in surprise. Laughing, she tossed him a towel the birds dropped for him, and he wiped his face and hair, flushing red in embarrassment.

"See! I knew you could do it!" she laughed, "But saying that you overdid it 'just a little' is a _huge_ understatement!"

"Now… my powers will be restored any day now, and our training will be a little easier on the both of us, especially me," she added as he continued to dry off. "So don't worry about me, okay?"

He looked at her, draping the towel around his shoulders. "I love you, Emma."

She smiled back at him. "I love you too, Josh. I love you too."

* * *

**That's it for now!**

**Until the next chapter!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	17. A Restoration of Magic

**Well.. I haven't updated in like... the last week... but in that week... NO REVIEWS! (-cries-)**

**Your reviews support my will to continue and finish this story (considering I have lots of other "projects" I'm working on and experimenting with) cause I need to know what you like, dislike, and or what I can fix! (cuz I know you read it through the traffic stuff)**

**So this chapter's pretty "magical", if you could call it that, considering Emma's getting back all her magic in one awesome ceremony!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: A Restoration of Magic

"So in a few hours is when your magic is being restored?" Josh inquired.

Emma looked at him with a smile as she stood up from her chair, stretching out her arms from writing homework. Her feet were cuddling inside warm slippers. "Yes, and the nice thing is that Christopher hasn't decided to send the Leviathan on the school yet, so therefore I have time to take my brother's place of blood to save the school."

He gripped her shoulders tightly as he walked over to her from his bed. "I won't let you get hurt. I promise you I'll learn to control my powers, so then we could stay together for a long time."

"I love you," she sighed adoringly.

He smiled. "I love you too," he murmured back, wrapping his arms around her waist as he leaned forward to kiss her passionately.

She kissed back equally passionately, and her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers twining into his dark hair.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp jolt of pain in her heart, and she pulled away abruptly, her hands clutching against her chest over her heart.

"Emma, Emma, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I-I'm not sure," she admitted, "I just… felt this pain in my chest; in my heart."

He took one of her hands and led her over to his bed, roughly pushing her down but catching her with a rush of warm wind, letting her rest easily upon the bed before lying down beside her while kicking off his shoes. He entangled his fingers into her hair and twirled several strands before kissing her on the cheek

"Let's rest for a while," he advised, pulling the covers over both their bodies. "You're probably stressing out too much."

Closing her eyes, she inched closer against Josh so that she snuggled up against his chest, his strong arms around her petit body.

"I love you Josh," she whispered as she began to go limp in his arms with fatigue.

"I love you too, Emma," he replied, "and I always will."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_"Where am I?" Josh thought out loud, walking through a dark corridor in a shapeless, empty world. The moon shone dimly and he silently walked until he found himself stopping in front of a strange, glowing door. _

_"What's behind this?" he murmured to himself._

_Pushing open the door, he saw Emma dressed in her white robes, on her knees with her hands tied behind her back. Behind her stood Christopher, in pure black and red robes. He held a long sword in both his hands above her. Emma's head was down, but snapped up as he entered. Josh was shocked at the blood trailing from a wound on her leg. _

_"E-Emma," he breathed. _

_"You're too late, Josh," Chris smirked before he plunged the sword down through Emma's shoulder, piercing through her heart and other vital organs, killing her painfully. Her agonizing scream hit Josh like a powerful Tsunami. _

_As Chris yanked the blade from her body, with a face twisted into pain she collapsed forward and slumped to the ground. Blood began to soak her silky white robes as Chris disappeared in a wisp of black smoke. _

_"NOO!" Josh screamed, dropping to her side, pulling the dying, bleeding girl into his arms. _

_"J-J-Josh," she choked before her eyes rolled closed, her head falling limply into the crease of his arm. _

_Her robes were completely red with her blood, and her body was cold in his arms. Josh realized almost instantly that she was dead. _

_Clutching her against his chest, tears streaming down his eyes, he felt his heart ache for her. _

_"Emma, I love you," he cried, "so much." _

_"If you love her," a dark voice said from behind him, "then go _join her_."_

_Suddenly Josh felt pain shoot through him, and as he looked down, he saw a blade sticking from his chest, as if it had burst from him. The blade continued on to pierce Emma's chest, until Josh felt the hilt of the sword press against his back. _

_As the blade was pulled from him, he felt that he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, as he slumped down onto Emma's body. His hand fell into hers, and he could feel his cheek press against her bloody shoulder. As his lifeblood flowed freely from his body, he could feel the warmth of life deserting him._

N-No…_ he thought as darkness tugged on his consciousness, making his eyes droop shut as he noticed Chris was wiping the blood of his blade on Emma's sleeve._

_"E-Emma… I-I'm sorry…" Josh managed to choke before he closed his eyes, falling into darkness…_

_xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX_

Josh's eyes shot open as he found himself back in his and Emma's bedroom. Panting in relief from his nightmare, he looked down at his seemingly still-resting girlfriend. Emma was snuggled against his chest, her body moulded against his, her hands resting against his chest. One of his arms lay under her head, providing a warm, living pillow for her. His other hand rested on her waist, keeping her close to him.

Emma's eyes opened and she glanced up at him. "Hey," she greeted, "is everything okay? Your flaring aura woke me."

"A nightmare," he replied. "A very… terrifying nightmare."

Sitting up, she looked at him. "Do you want to talk to me about it?"

"It _involves _you," he admitted. "You and I were both murdered by Christopher. He killed you first, before he stabbed me after I was crying over you."

Her face changed from one of curiosity and concern to worry and pity. "Awww…" she murmured, throwing her arms around his neck, "It's okay, Josh. It's only a dream."

His arms wrapped around her waist in return and he squeezed her tightly against him. She could tell he was scared and worried, because his body shook against hers as he buried his face in her hair and neck.

Pulling away, her hands rested on his cheeks. "Oh Josh… you shouldn't be worrying about things like this. More or less… having crazy nightmares like this. Once I get my powers back, I promise I'll make them stop," she promised with a sigh. Glancing at the time, she climbed out of bed, and turned back to him.

"Come on, it's almost time. I expect my brother will be awaiting me. It's your choice whether you wish to come or not," she explained, holding her hand out to him. "Do you want to come?"

He took her hand without hesitation. "Of course," he replied, jumping out of bed himself.

As they entered the courtyard, all the other students and teachers of Galaxy High were gathered around, torches of fire lit all around the courtyard in one huge circle. Aaron stood next to the closed snack bar, where he was pacing until he saw Josh and Emma. Levitating in front of his sister, he ran a hand through his scruffy black hair and grinned at her with a sheepish smile and sparkling blue eyes.

"Um… hi, Emma. Hey Josh. Sorry, but I guess word spread about the magic restoration thing and you know… well…. Yeah," he muttered. "Well… I guess it's because it's the opportunity to see a rare restoration of magic to the Twilight Princess of Alasparx."

"Funny," she retorted sarcastically, scowling at him. "Anyway, stand clear, it'll start soon."

Stepping towards the snack bar, her eyes glowed silver as moonlight shone upon the snack bar. As she spoke, it was as if her voice was suddenly magnified.

"Moonlight dawns upon us, and the call of the Twilight Princess will be heard. Release and open the gate of the moon pool," she called, raising one hand to the dark starry sky above her towards the moon.

Suddenly, a stream of pure moonlight shone over the snack bar, and it vanished, a huge round pool of water that looked almost silver with sands of white surrounding the edge replacing it. A faint rainbow line shimmered around the portals separating both worlds. The moment Emma stepped through the barrier, her clothes automatically transformed into the pure white robes that her brother, Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy recognized from earlier. As her bare feet touched the surface of the water, it rippled, but she continued to quietly walk across the silver-looking surface. Stopping in the very middle of the pool, she closed her eyes and began to float over the pool. Two giant wings spread from her back, white against white. They began to enfold her body, and wrapped around her completely as she crossed her arms over her chest, bowing her head down.

"Amazing…" Brett breathed.

The entire form glowed, powerful pulses of magic radiating from her, the silver from the pool being sucked into her winged form. A long wisp of silver twirled around her body as white balls of light floated from the pool all at once, accumulating into Emma's body.

"This is beyond anything I've ever seen," Yoko murmured. "It's better than one of my awesome light shows."

Aaron folded his arms, smiling gently at his sister over the water. "Emma sure knows how to awestruck a crowd all right," he muttered to himself. "Her powers will be returned, and I'll have one less thing to worry about her." _As for the prophecy, I need to make sure that doesn't happen,_ he added silently.

As the wings parted and Emma's pale silver eyes reopened, her body was struck and embodied in a stream of blinding white light, what seemed like silver ribbons dancing and fluttering around her body.

"Emma," Josh whispered worriedly, hesitating to take a step forward and somehow interrupting the ceremony.

"Ah, don't worry about her, Josh," Aaron reassured.

Suddenly, the light vanished, and Emma touched back down onto the surface of the water before walking from it, once more breaching the barrier between worlds before it closed behind her, the snack bar suddenly reappearing once more as if nothing had ever happened to it. Her white robes remained the same, and she closed her eyes as the light of the moon touched her skin. When they reopened, they were azure blue once more. Stretching out her white wings, she let them disappear.

"It is finished," she announced quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "Now, it's best if you all get some sleep for tomorrow. The enemy could attack anytime, and you probably _don't_ want to be asleep when that happens."

As the crowd began to disperse, a chatter amongst the students and teachers could be heard, but Emma ignored it and returned with Aaron, Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy to their dorms.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"T-That was astounding!" Brett exclaimed along the way.

The Twilight Princess chuckled. "Thank you," she responded. "Now, it's best you all go to sleep now. The battle that lies ahead will be challenging, considering we're fighting the Leviathan."

"How do you think we'll do?" Yoko inquired.

"I know you'll all do just fine," she said with a sincere smile. "Aaron and I will be there to seal the beast away."

Aaron crossed his arms, his face set in concern. "I just hope we don't have any casualties," he noted.

"That would be a _must_," Emma corrected. "It's unfair that Galaxy High marshals need to get involved with this. This battle is strictly between Alasparx and Veralix, with the exception of Josh. Securing and protecting the other students must be yours and my top priority. This will include the teachers, as well as Josh, Yoko and Brett."

"But we can protect ourselves!" Yoko reasoned.

"Even so," the princess sighed, "facing the Leviathan is not like facing a normal mission. Even though Aaron, Lucian, Sarah, Darien and myself will be out there fighting it out, we can't take any risks with liabilities, no matter how strong they think they are. Us five have trained together before, and so we know our strategies of working together. I can't risk your safety."

Josh grabbed her arm while placing a hand on her cheek. "Emma…" he murmured to her, staring deeply into her eyes, "I can't let you risk your _own_ safety either."

Sighing, she pulled her arm away and looked back at him. "My resolve still stands. The life of the Alphaspark is more important than the life of a princess, no matter how harsh that may sound. I will use my full prowess as the Twilight Princess to restrain you and the other marshals from assisting if I must," she threatened, her voice full of authority. "This is my final decision on the matter."

Without another word, she walked to her dorm room and entered, somewhat slamming the door shut. Fluffy whimpered in slight recoil.

Brett gulped, "She's scary when she's angry."

Aaron sighed, "She doesn't want any of you to get hurt. My sister has a very guilty conscious. If something happened to any of you, she wouldn't forgive herself. It would haunt her for the rest of her life."

"Even so," Yoko reasoned, "we have to do _something_ to help."

"Unfortunately," the prince began, "I have to agree with Emma on this matter. We can't risk any of your lives. The Leviathan is a gigantic, dangerous beast. Emma and I have discussed this already and come to an agreement. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but we're deciding that we're keeping you all in a large force field just outside Galaxy High. No one can get in, or out. It will dispel once the beast's presence is gone, either that or a greater power destroys the barrier. Even if something should happen to us, the barrier will still stand."

Brett looked at him. "But can't Josh break it?" he pointed out.

"Precisely," Aaron agreed. "Josh has the potential to break through the barrier easily, and Emma could have chosen to seal off his powers, but she didn't for the reason that if we should fail, we need to rely on Josh to take the beast out and possibly send it to another dimension."

"Do you think we should go and talk to her?" Yoko queried worriedly.

The acting-crown prince of Alasparx scratched his head. "Well… if you guys intend to argue your way into the fight, it's best you forget about it now. Emma won't change her mind on this one, believe me," he warned. "But if you still intend to try, go right ahead."

They hastily walked to the door and rapped on the door twice before opening it, finding one empty bedroom and an open window.

"Where'd she go?" Yoko inquired.

Aaron walked to the window and looked out. "Probably a midnight flight," he guessed. "She always _did_ have a habit of transforming into some sort of bird and flying around for a while. Usually she came back after 15 or so minutes before going right back to bed. I've caught her doing that before."

"So I guess we won't be arguing with her tonight?" Brett guessed.

He sighed, "Well… unless you want to wait for her to return. But even then, I'm pretty sure she still won't be in the mood to argue with you guys."

Josh sighed in what seemed to be defeat, "Well then that's that. We'll have to try and convince her _before_ the attack tomorrow."

"That's only _if_ we know when that is," Brett retorted negatively.

"Well… Emma and I should sense the Leviathan at least 5 minutes before it actually attacks, so we'll let you guys know," Aaron told him. "For now… I guess it's goodnight."

"Good night," the three marshals replied before separating into their rooms.

The night was going to be long as all marshals and teachers lay awake in earnest for the battle awaiting them within the dawn. Eventually they all fell asleep, as Emma flew over Galaxy High, she spread a sleeping dust around so they could all sleep well.

Sighing, Emma thought, _They'll need the rest for tomorrow._

* * *

**So that's it for this chapter! I really need your support so PLEASE REVIEW! (HINT: it mayy just help me update a little faster! -wink-)**


	18. The Beast of the Abyss

**OMG THIS CHAPTER IS SO DRAMATIC!!!!!!**

**This is going to be a really intense chapter. Now... the thing is that I warn you that this is an awesomely (yet-violent) chapter. **

**I'm afraid though... that they may not all survive through this...**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: The Beast of the Abyss

A sharp jolt in his mind woke Josh from his artificial slumber by his girlfriend.

Josh snapped up from bed, seeing Emma standing in front of the mirror in a dark blue velvet battle outfit, a leather belt wrapped around her waist, a golden-hilted sword by her side. She wore short black boots and had on a dark blue collared tunic and black comfortable pants. Her hair was tied up into a tight bun, two narrow-long knives stuck in them, holding her hair up. A silver dagger rested in its sheath on her belt, as well as a blaster and another set of throwing knives. She held another silver sword in her hand, holding it in front of her face before sheathing it back in its holder on the other side of her belt.

"Morning, Emma," Josh greeted, a little surprised by her appearance. "You look ready."

She gave him a sad, small smile. "Did I wake you?" she asked, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, itching at his head.

"Why are you awake?" she inquired, "Aaron and I haven't sensed anything approaching yet."

"I felt this jolt in my mind and woke up," he told her bluntly. "What time is it?"

"Almost 9," she answered. "The others are still asleep. Last night I placed a sleeping spell upon everyone so they'd sleep until Aaron or I woke them."

All of a sudden, Emma cringed, kneeling down with her eyes scrunched tight and her hands at the side of her head in pain.

"Emma!" Josh exclaimed, leaping out of bed and kneeling down by her side, gathering her in his arms. "Are you okay?!"

"He's coming," she breathed. "Let's go."

Grabbing his hand, she swiftly walked to the door, where she was already met by her brother and the three Hendricks siblings, all dressed and ready for battle.

"It's time," Emma murmured. "The others should be awake by now, but sound the alarm. Josh, I forbid you to help us out. I can't allow you to put yourself and the rest of us in unnecessary danger. Now, Aaron, I'll keep watch from above. Get Josh and the others out of here, _now_!"

"Emma!" Josh exclaimed as she floated up above the school.

"No, Josh," Aaron snapped sternly, "you heard what Emma said. Get the others out of here now! Lieutenant, I'm placing you in charge of making sure that all the marshals are present in the barrier. You think you can manage?"

"Yes Sir!" Lucian shouted, saluting his commanding officer before flying off towards the location.

Josh looked up into the skies worriedly, his blue eyes searching for Emma. Aaron snapped him back down into reality, his dark blue eyes burning holes into his.

"Josh, if we should fail, it will be up to you to save the day. Don't try to help us out, because even though we've been with you so long, we still can't predict the accuracy of your powers. It may end up costing us this entire battle," the prince explained gravely. "I'm sending you off to the safety barrier right now through magic, as well as the other marshals and teachers."

The rebellious teen bit back a remark before replying, "Good luck, and tell Emma I love her."

He nodded. "I'll send her your regards," he said, raising his hand.

With one wave, Josh suddenly found himself with the other marshals on the fields outside Galaxy High, a huge green barrier held above and below him.

_I can't do anything from in here,_ he thought as Yoko, Brett, Fluffy and his father ran over to him.

"Josh, what just happened?" Principal Kirkpatrick demanded.

"They're going to fight alone," he replied quietly. "They don't want us to get involved so we could get ourselves hurt."

Yoko looked back out desperately as she held the bow and the quiver of arrows on her back. "But we've got to do _something_! They're going to get hurt if they fight by themselves," she protested uselessly.

"But that's the point," Brett argued. "They'd rather themselves get hurt than us. After all, this _is_ their fight."

Josh shook his head. "Emma's my girlfriend, the girl I love. Ever since I got myself with her, her problems became mine. If this is one of her problems she has to face, I'll face it with her," he determined.

All of a sudden, the ground shook violently, and the earth cracked, splitting as Emma, Aaron, Lucian, Darien and Sarah floated closer towards the source as all of them rested their hands at the hilt of their swords. Without warning, a huge wave of black and purple was emitted from the crack, flying towards Emma and the others with great speed. They drew out their swords just in time to block the force from propelling them backwards.

"This _can't_ be good," Aaron noted as he lowered his blade.

Emma glared at him. "Yeah, we really need the criticism now, Aaron," she snapped, looking back at the crack. "But I'm afraid I must agree with you."

The crack grew until it became a huge mouth into the black abyss.

"We might be in a little trouble," Darien commented.

Suddenly, a huge, hideous brown-grey beast rose from the abyss, its huge mouth opening, revealing rotten breath and long, sharp yellow teeth. It's narrowed red eyes glared at them in hate as it crawled closer towards them. It was at least 3 times the size of the school, and it had both claws and sharp tentacles that protruded from random areas of its large, rounded, rotting body.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Sarah sighed. "This won't be easy."

Emma smirked, her eyes narrowed. "It never is," she retorted as a tiny figure rose from the black hole and they all recognized it to be Chris.

"Hello there," he greeted in an evil tone, "meet the Leviathan. Oh, and by the way, the stupid troops you sent retook over Alasparx. There's no point in recapturing it since Emma won't marry me out of her own free will anyway."

Aaron scoffed, "Well you're right about that."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Let's get started. Take 'em down, execute Alpha Delta 3-1. Go!" she commanded, and as she flew forward with her sword poised, Aaron and Darien sent powerful bolts of lightning as Lucian and Sarah disappeared.

Reappearing, the two of three siblings appeared on each side of the Leviathan, shooting the foul beast with raging blue flames. Emma's blade flashed, and a huge stream of light shot from the tip, right at the Leviathan's forehead and it screamed in pain from all the attacks. It's tentacles lashed out in furious rage and a sudden blazing black aura flew from it and impacted against the 5 knights, sending them flying back into the ground.

"O-Okay, _that_ wasn't expected," Aaron groaned as he climbed to his feet. Communicating with magic, he asked the others, "Are the rest of you alright?"

"Yeah," Emma muttered, "that _was_ unexpected. It's safe to assume that the aura came from Chris' assistance, or else it's grown more powerful than the time our ancestors sealed it away."

"This might be a little more difficult than we thought," Sarah grumbled.

Darien climbed to his feet. "We never said that this would be easy," he commented. "So… do you guys have any ideas?"

"Just one," Lucian answered while ducking as a tentacle snapped over his head, "don't get yourselves killed."

"That too, but I've got a better idea," Emma said, "Darien, Aaron, cover me. I'm going in."

Aaron glanced over at her. "You'd better know what you're doing," he warned as she floated back into the air.

Flying back towards and in front of her, Aaron and Darien smacked away all of the tentacles flashing towards Emma as she flew straight toward the huge beast, her blade poised.

"Okay, Emma, you're set!" Darien called to her.

All of a sudden, it seemed that Emma was about to attack, but surprised everyone when she vanished into the gaping mouth of the beast, it's sharp fangs snapping shut.

"EMMA!" Aaron screamed.

"NO!" Josh cried. _S-She didn't just… Did she?_ He thought in horror, about ready to break through the shield. Taking a step back, he resisted the urge to help out, as he knew the others would be furious with him and might end up getting hurt.

Lucian, Darien and Sarah viciously attacked the beast. "Princess!" they called.

"D-Did she just fly into the Leviathan's mouth?" Yoko choked in fear.

Chris smirked suddenly, as if he'd just realize what Emma was really intending to do. As he guessed, a flash of light lit up the Leviathan's closed mouth and a light as sharp as a sword burst from underneath its dark skin on its back and it screamed in pain as Emma hovered above it, covered in green and yellow oozing slime, acid, as well as green blood.

"Okay… that was just gross," she commented, using her magic to make the slime, acid, and blood separate from her body and clothes. "I _cannot_ believe I just did that."

"Emma!" her friends and comrades exclaimed in relief, her brother flying to her side.

"What were you _thinking_?!" he snapped angrily.

She shrugged. "When I said I was 'going in', I wasn't kidding," she retorted. "I gotta say though, I might have bought us a bit of time. Or at least, make things a little easier for us from now on. That time bomb should go off in about 3…2…"

The Leviathan roared in agonizing pain as smoke came from its mouth as Emma's ticking time bomb had gone off and it dropped to the ground.

"Hmm… this is interesting," Chris noted thoughtfully, completely unfazed.

"Now guys! Hit it while it's down!" Emma ordered as she strung her magic bow made of light with a glowing golden arrow, pulling it back, "Hit it with your most powerful attack!" _If this doesn't work I have that other timed bomb I set in there. Let's hope it works,_ she thought.

As a strange smoke suddenly covered the area around the Leviathan, covering it from their sight, all five warriors of Alasparx shot their most powerful magic attack at the beast, one huge explosion causing smoke and dust to rise up all around them.

"You think it's weakened enough to be sealed?" Aaron inquired his younger sister.

"Well… I think," she began with a sigh as her bow disappeared.

He never heard what she thought as a tentacle snapped out from the dust and wound tightly around Emma's body, preventing movement of her arms and hands as it yanked her down back towards it.

"Emma!" Aaron shouted as the smoke cleared with a blast of wind as Chris dispersed the cloud of dust revealing that the Leviathan was unharmed by their latest attack, but seemingly still wounded.

Chris glanced over at the beast and gave a curt nod, the beast sending powerful blue pulses of lightning coursing through Emma's body and she screamed in agonizing pain.

"We need to help them!" Brett cried out.

"Emma's in so much pain!" Yoko agreed; her wide eyes terrified for the princess."Josh! Help us get out!"

Without having a second thought, Josh had grabbed both Brett and Yoko's hand and led them easily out of the barrier.

"We've got to do something!" Yoko shouted, knocking an arrow onto her bow and taking aim.

Aaron tried to freeze the beast with ice, but the ice was easily destroyed by the huge beast's strength. Trying all his might to free his sister, he hardly noticed that Josh, Brett and Yoko had escaped from the barrier.

Controlling his magic with all his might, Josh blasted the Leviathan with what appeared to be a mix of fire, ice and lightning, causing the creature to shout out in pain as its shocking Emma ceased.

Aaron took the moment of opportunity to shoot the beast's tentacle holding Emma with a beam of white lightning and it released her, the young woman falling limply into Chris' arms.

"So beautiful and fair yet so troubled," Chris murmured as he gazed into her unconscious face, giving her a light kiss on the forehead.

Aaron was suddenly very conscious of Josh, Yoko and Brett's presence. "Get back into the barrier!" he ordered.

"Let go of her!" Lucian cried out at Chris as he flew in to try and dismiss the sorcerer with Darien.

Chris used his all-powerful magic to swat the two away like flies, both spiralling and crashing to the school and not returning. At the spark of magic Emma instantly awoke and gave Chris an upper-cut to his jaw and he released her in his surprise and pain as she flew away.

"Sarah! Watch Brett! Aaron! Take Yoko!" she screamed as the Leviathan's attention was suddenly on the young trio of Galaxy High. "The three of you, _MOVE_!" _This can't be happening!_ She thought in horror, _I need more time!_

They ignored her as if they didn't hear. Yoko tried shooting an arrow at the forbidden beast, but it seemed unfazed. Josh tried another blast of weaker magic, but in his fear and panic it failed. All three marshals felt frozen to the spot as their gazes were met by the mercury red gaze of the beast.

As Sarah, Aaron and Emma could only stare in horror Chris took the moment of recovery to stab them each through the stomach with a single blow of black magic, blood spilling from all three with pained chokes.

"No!" Josh shouted as the three immediately flew towards them as the Leviathan shot out three fleshy tentacles at them.

Now it was up to Sarah, Aaron and Emma to make it to them before it was too late.

---xXxXxXx---

Brett felt himself dragged off to the side before being violently smacked by what felt like a wet arm. Closing his eyes, he expected to feel immense pain however his landing was heavy yet soft, as he had landed on something cushiony. When he opened his eyes, he gasped in horror at why he felt no pain. He had landed on the now-unconscious Sarah in the centre of a huge smoking crater, and blood still flowed from Sarah's grave wound.

"No…" Brett whispered while ripping off pieces of Sarah's tattered cloak and pressing it against the wound, "Come on, Sarah. Don't go dying on us!"

---xXxXxXx---

Yoko felt herself being dragged off to the opposite side of Brett. She gave out a short yell before she could feel strong arms being wrapped around her before she and Aaron were thrown off towards Galaxy High, crashing into the building. Both groaned before Yoko opened her eyes, noticing that Aaron was just in front of her on his elbows, grunting in pain. She then noticed how deep the wound in his stomach was.

"A-Are you okay, Aaron?" she asked, ignoring her own sores and aches.

"Honestly, no," he replied with a wince.

Suddenly he yanked himself forward and pushed her away as huge loose rocks and debris fell from the broken facility, falling and burying the prince in a hill of white stone.

"Aaron!" Yoko screamed in terror, immediately trying to pull away at the heavy stones but failed. Continuing to try all her might, a sinking feeling brought her heart spiralling into her stomach as she feared the worst.

"AARON!"

---xXxXxXx---

"Josh!" He heard Emma scream his name for a moment before being pushed backwards and collapsing against the ground.

"Oof!" Josh grunted as he collided with the ground, suddenly hearing a terrible cut-off gasp and feeling a splatter of red on the ground in front of him.

Daring to look up, he gasped at the terrible scene before screaming Emma's name.

The bloody tentacle had pierced through her lower ribcage, going through her entire body as her back was to him. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth as her eyes fluttered weakly as she stared up at her enemy. With a satisfied growl, the Leviathan yanked the tentacle from her body and she began to fall back, Josh rushing forward to catch the dying girl in his arms.

"Emma! Emma!" he shouted desperately, tears threatening to fall down his face.

Slowly glancing up at him, the corners of her mouth twitched up into a hint of a smile. "T-Told you to stay in the barrier," she breathed rather painfully, her smile disappearing, "W-Why didn't you listen to me?"

He shook his head in disbelief as tears fell from his eyes in realization. This was his entire fault. "Emma, I'm so sorry," was all he could choke.

Emma raised her bloody hand out to the Leviathan before the second timed bomb within the creature exploded, causing it to scream and collapse once more. The blood on Emma's hand glowed and shot like an arrow towards the fallen beast, wrapping it in what seemed to be like a cage of bloody light before a red circle appeared underneath the beast and it vanished into a single stream of light which shot up straight into the air and out of sight. Chris growled in frustration and vanished in black smoke.

"I-It's gone…" Principal Kirkpatrick breathed as silence rolled through the plains and the barrier around him and the other marshals vanished with magic sparks.

"Josh…" Emma's hand dropped and her head lolled on Josh's shoulder as her consciousness slipped into darkness.

"Emma!" the 16-year-old rebel screamed as he pulled her tighter against him. "Please! You can't die!"

The battle was over, but at what terrible cost?

* * *

**OMG, so intense!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! (and I'll update as soon as I can)**


	19. Recoil

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! (and Merry Christmas Eve to others!)**

**Well... here's the next chapter to The Real Deal on the New Recruit. I hope you like it!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Recoil 

"How are they doing?" Principal Kirkpatrick asked worriedly as Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy paced worriedly in front of the nurse's office.

"We don't know," Brett answered. "After digging up Aaron, Darien and Lucian from the rocks and taking Emma and Sarah here the nurse called in backup and shut the door."

Josh collapsed against the wall next to the door. "This is all my fault," he choked. "They all got hurt because of _me_. And I couldn't do _anything_ about it."

"Josh, it wasn't your fault they got hurt," Yoko chided, "it was my fault that Aaron got hurt."

"And mine that Sarah got hurt," Brett agreed. "We all acted too rashly."

The leader blinked tears from his eyes. "But Emma… that single wound alone caused her to lose so much blood… the wound that _I_ caused," he reasoned miserably.

As they all wallowed in their own sorrows, the door to the nurse's office finally opened, the stench of blood and sweat radiating from the room as the alien nurse stepped out.

Josh stood up quickly and demanded, "How are they?"

"Well…" she began, "Princess Emma is awake and her wound will recover with time, and she's currently tending to Prince Aaron and the others. Their wounds don't seem as bad as her own, but she's taking a full assessment of the damage and healing where she can."

"Can we see them right now?" Yoko inquired hopefully.

She nodded.

Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy walked into the room, gasping at the sight. Darien, Lucian and Aaron were naked from the waist up with white bandages wrapped tightly around their torsos. Sarah's own torso was wrapped with white bandages, though she wore a large white t-shirt over the bandages. Emma was wearing an easy blue tank-top, revealing all of the bandages wrapped around her body. White bandages were also wrapped around her head, and she sat next to her brother, her bandaged hands poised just above his chest as they glowed a calm aqua blue light. They stopped glowing as the marshals walked in and she looked up at them, her eyes hard and glaring most particularly at Josh.

"Emma, we want to apologize for disobeying your orders to stay within the barrier," Brett began hesitantly, knowing that the princess was more than furious with them.

"We _really_ didn't mean to let you guys get hurt for our sakes," Yoko added with emphasis.

The princess didn't answer them, but instead turned back to work on healing her brother to the best of her ability.

Brett and Yoko both turned to look at Josh. He gave them a nod and his friends, as well as Fluffy walked back outside and Josh closed the door.

Josh gulped in fear. "Emma… I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"What you did was stupid and reckless," she spat coldly without looking up. "You, Yoko and Brett could have been killed. But instead the rest of us got hurt."

His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. "B-But we only wanted to save you!" he protested.

She whirled at him, icy blue flames surrounding her, flaring violently with her rage. "That's no excuse!" she scolded angrily. "We all could have _died_, Joshua! You're no use to both our worlds if you're _dead_! Tell me, Joshua, if one of us had died, do you think 'sorry' would be enough to bring them back?!"

Stunned into silence, he knew the answer to that question but dared not to say it. Not wanting to meet her furious azure eyes, he averted his own blue gaze to the floor, as if he suddenly found it so interesting.

Turning away, Emma allowed her aura to die down a bit as she made an attempt to control her fury. "Ugh… forget about it," she said emotionlessly all of a sudden. "What's done is done. All that matters now is that the rest of us are all fully healed before going back into battle."

"Emma," he began, taking a step forward.

She closed her eyes and turned away from him completely. "Josh, don't," she warned, her voice suddenly filled with sad emotion. Whirling back at him he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks and welling up in her eyes as they burned with cold fire. "Just go, Josh. I'll discuss this with you later a little more calmer after I finish helping them when I calm down a bit," she sighed, as if she suddenly gave up on being angry, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"Emma," he murmured, his eyes glittering with sadness.

"Just… leave the room right now, Josh, please," she chided quietly. "My wounds still need their own time to heal, but I need the quietness to focus on healing my brother."

Josh wanted to say something, but decided to keep his mouth shut as he walked out of the room without another word, closing the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, he looked at his friends and father.

"I take it things didn't go very well," Brett guessed.

He shook his head. "She's more than furious at me. I feel terrible," he said. "And did you _see_ all the bandages she wore? She must be in so much pain."

"It's not your fault Josh," Yoko tried to lighten the mood.

"But it _is_," he protested miserably, "It's _my_ fault she's in pain."

The nurse looked at them uncertainly. "She _did_ take a lot of painkillers before proceeding to heal the prince and her friends," she told them. _Just under the limit that would kill her,_ she added silently, _the poor girl._

Josh sighed depressingly and looked at his friends. "Let's go, guys," he said, and a rumble of thunder shook around them as the sky was now cloudy.

Rain began to spill upon the slightly ruined school, and the three marshals and their ultra-pet returned back to their dorms in silence. Fluffy padded alongside Josh, looking up worriedly at his master.

"Hey Fluff," he said in a slightly happy voice, kneeling down and patting him on the head.

"Josh, you can't keep on beating yourself up," Brett said. "There's nothing you or any of us could have done."

He looked away. "I know," he admitted, "but I can't help feel the guilt. I feel as if it _was_ all my fault."

-------

Hours later, Josh lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head, deep in thought and worry. The sound of raindrops hitting the building filled his ears, and he knew the rain was heavy.

_Well… there's no point in moping,_ he decided finally, climbing off his bed and walking out of his room and down through the halls.

Suddenly, he felt a pulsing presence and ran off campus onto the field where the battle had been just a few hours ago. Looking far across the horizon, he saw a single figure standing, their gaze averted up into the sky.

As he peered into the distance, he suddenly made-out the slim figure of Emma, her body, bandages and cloths soaking wet, as well as her hair which stuck to her wet skin. She was still wearing her blue tank top, and she seemed to be shivering from the cold. She was pretty pale, and her eyes seemed pained and empty, as if she had lost her last will and reason to continue living. The bandages on her head began to come undone with the weight of the rain.

"Emma!" Josh yelled, beginning to run towards her.

All of a sudden, a white-lined complex rune appeared beneath her before four streams of light shot from her body into the air and out of sight. She teetered forward before crumpling to her side, her aqua eyes gazing seeing but unseeingly across the empty plains. She could feel coldness and sleep embrace her, and she allowed her eyes to begin to drift close. At last darkness consumed the last of her consciousness as she fell into the endless abyss…

--------

"Emma!" Josh exclaimed, skidding onto his knees next to the fallen princess and taking her into his arms. "You're soaking wet. I need to get you out of this rain."

Picking her up into his arms, he pulled her taut against his chest, bending protectively over her to shield her from the hard downpour of rain while gazing into her seemingly peaceful face.

"Emma, I'm so sorry," he apologized quietly, though he knew that she probably wasn't able to hear him. "I'm so, so sorry."

Carrying her body to the nurse's office, he laid her down onto one of the beds as the nurse was changing the bandages on Aaron's arm.

"What happened?" she inquired worriedly, "Is she alright?"

"She was outside in the rain," he replied, "She's pretty cold, and I think she's still weak from the blood loss." _I have no idea how to explain what I saw with the white lights and stuff,_ he thought.

"You probably should know that she took just under the limit of painkillers that would kill her," the nurse told him quietly. "I advised her not to take so many, but she said that she needed it all to help numb her pain." As she finished applying new bandages to Aaron's wound, she left the room.

Placing his hands on her forehead, Josh dried up all the water from her body, and with his magic, sent warmth tingling down her body all the way to the tip of her fingers and toes. Nevertheless, her skin still felt chilly.

"Mmm… Emma?" Prince Aaron murmured, his blue eyes fluttering open to stare at the ceiling.

"Aaron, you're awake," Josh said, "how do you feel?"

"Well… I expected that the pain would be a lot worse, but I'm surprised it's not too bad. I suspect Emma did that," he murmured, not paying attention to who he was speaking to, slowly sitting up before seeing his unconscious sister lying on the bed next to him.

"Emma!" he exclaimed, wincing at a sudden jolt of pain.

"Aaron, please, just… calm down," Josh advised warily.

Blazing blue eyes turned on him, and he suddenly felt an unexpected force throw him and smash against the door with a hard thud, Aaron's hand outstretched towards him.

"You!" the prince shouted with outrage, "Alphaspark or not, you nearly cost my sister her _life_!" His hand tightened as if around an invisible neck, and Josh felt his own windpipe beginning to construct.

"A-Aaron, p-please," Josh choked.

"I saw _everything_!" Aaron continued angrily, ignoring Josh's desperate chokes. "I _felt_ everything! The agony, the pain, and the misery that _she_ felt through her thoughts! This is _your entire fault_!!!"

"P-Please!" the Alphaspark gasped.

Aaron's hand suddenly withdrew quickly, turning away while closing his eyes. "Ugh… I'm wasting my time. There's no point in trying." Brushing away the bangs from his sister's face, he carefully picked her up into his arms. "Until you have truly realized just _what_ this whole ordeal could have cost us, we will be back at the capital of Alasparx recuperating from the wounds _you_ caused us all. If Emma hadn't do what she did, Lucian, Sarah, Darien and I would still be asleep for weeks!"

"No wait!" Josh cried, but it was too late. With a single wave of Aaron's hand, he, Emma, Darien, Sarah and Lucian all vanished, a stream of magic flying out the window and out of sight.

Josh pounded on the floor before the nurse ran back in with Yoko and Brett.

"Josh, what happened?" Brett demanded.

Yoko gasped, "Where did they go?!"

"They're _gone_," Josh cried. "Aaron woke up and he was furious with me, not to mention he nearly tried to strangle me in his anger. Apparently he felt the pain that she went through when she had been… impaled earlier."

"Where did they go?" Brett inquired, trying to remain calm.

"Back to Alasparx, back to Clarlake," he breathed.

"What?! Why?" Yoko implored.

Josh sighed depressingly, scratching at his hair. "Well… once Aaron woke up and realized it was _me_ talking to him, he nearly strangled me with his magic before vanishing with the others back to Alasparx," he explained. "But… one thing Aaron said did confuse me."

"What did he say?" Brett asked.

"He said that if Emma hadn't have done what she did do, he and the others would still be asleep for weeks," the leader replied. "Any idea what he might have meant by that?"

The 10-year-old child genius looked thoughtful. "I think I might know," he replied, starting off towards their dorms. Hurriedly the others followed, Fluffy barking by Josh's side.

The group went into Emma and Josh's shared bedroom, and Brett turned on Emma's laptop, entering the password of "06849485Sparx" and digging into Emma's file on the Twilight Princess.

"Okay… well… according to her report here, apparently the Twilight Princess can give up her powers of the moon temporarily to strengthen others, not to mention be placed in a healing sleep," Brett announced. "I'm guessing that this is what Emma did, which is why Aaron was so angered at Josh. It says here that whenever the Twilight Princess goes into a healing sleep, it is undecided at when she will awaken, even if it means sleeping for thousands of years. The magic will protect her from Time and aging."

Josh felt a sinking feeling in his heart. _Meaning she might not ever wake soon,_ he thought in utter dread, _and it's all my fault._

"Can we head to Alasparx right now?" Yoko asked.

Josh shook his head. "Bad idea," he said. "Aaron warned me not to go until I realized what we could have lost. But I already know… all of us could have died. Us, Emma, Aaron, Darien, Sarah, and Lucian; we could have all died because of _my_ stupid mistake of taking us out of the barrier."

His team hugged him, trying to comfort and reassure their leader.

"Don't worry Josh, everything will be alright," Brett reassured as they pulled back.

"Yeah, Emma will be just fine. I'm sure she just needs some time to rest to let her wounds heal, that's all," Yoko added optimistically.

"So when should we go to Alasparx then?" Josh asked, trying to draw away the attention.

Brett took a moment to think. "Well… we probably need to stick around for a day or two to analyze the damage that's been done to the school," he contemplated.

"Tomorrow at the earliest, I guess then," Yoko said.

The 16-year-old's eyes glimmered with pain as he looked away from his friends and out the window into the cold, unforgiving rain.

_Emma…_ he thought, _I'm so, so sorry…_

--------

Two days later, the school was already half-way through being completely repaired, and Josh and his team were closer to recover from the initial shock that had been just the day before yesterday.

"Did you already go talk to Principal K.?" Yoko asked Brett.

He nodded. "Now we just need to go get Josh and we'll head off as soon as he's ready. We should probably bring them something as a token of apology for placing their lives in danger for us."

"What do you suggest we bring?" Yoko queried.

Brett scratched his head. "Well… it's common that people usually just bring in flowers for the recovering," he began, "so maybe we should bring flowers?"

"Ooh!" she squealed, "I'm sure they'll love flowers."

He looked up at her. "Well… I can quickly mix some floral DNA together to make a new type of flower. Just give me a moment, find Josh and we'll meet at the Hornet," he instructed before dashing off.

"Got it," she confirmed before running off to Josh's room.

"Josh! Josh! Come on, we're going to Alasparx!" she called.

The door opened and he walked out, a somewhat sulky look on his face. Just as quick as it came, the sulk vanished, suddenly filled with hard determination.

"Okay, let's go. I'm ready, and I've prepared my apology speech," he declared.

Yoko's expression couldn't help but drop. "Uh… Josh? If Emma loves you as much as I know she does, you won't exactly need one," she commented.

"Nah," he replied, "it's for Aaron. I know he's probably _really_ ticked off. After all… it _was_ my fault that Emma got so badly hurt."

"Well then, let's go," she urged.

Hurriedly, the both of them rushed to the Hornet where they were met by Brett and Fluffy.

"Let's get going," Josh announced, revving up the Hornet's engine.

* * *

**I hope you liked that chapter!**

**Please review and I'll update ASAP!**

**PLEASE REVIEWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	20. A Mental Meeting

**Sorry for taking so long, but I hope you like this new chapter.**

**Hope you had a great new year and such, and hope you have a great Valentine's Day! (And a great Chinese New Year, if you celebrate it, that is.)**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Twenty: A Mental Meeting

Once the team arrived on Alasparx's capital of Clarlake, the three marshals and Ultra-pet headed to the castle.

"His Highness Prince Aaron will now see you in the Audience Hall," the guard announced as he stood in front of the huge double doors before both he and the guard on the other side pushed open the door, revealing a short set of stairs that led to the royal thrones of the King and Queen and the Crown Prince and Princess that stood on the other side of the room.

Dressed in jewel-embedded tunics and black pants, the imperial sword hanging on his belt on his side and the golden crown of the Crown Prince sitting upon his head, Prince Aaron seemed anxious and angry at the same time as he sat in a somewhat bored position, his leg casually thrown over the other, his head resting on his hand on the throne.

Formally, Josh, Yoko, Brett and Fluffy kneeled and bowed in front of him, knowing that the prince was still probably angry at Josh for what he did to his sister.

"Your Majesty," the three of them acknowledged respectfully.

"Rise," Aaron ordered in a monotone, and they did as followed. "Why have you come here?"

"Your Highness, I understand and have truly realized the risks that I placed Emma in back at Galaxy High a few days ago, and I'm sorry for placing the princess in danger as such a result," Josh spoke, his voice unwavering as the words he had chosen and rehearsed over the last few days spewed from his mouth.

"He really _is_ sorry for what happened to her," Yoko chimed.

"As are we all," Brett added, "for everything that happened to all of you."

Aaron's dark blue eyes burned into Josh, warily analyzing how honest Josh's words truly were. After a few moments, he sighed, rising from his throne and descending the steps towards them.

"All of you, come with me," he said quietly, not halting in his steps as he walked towards the doors.

Almost instantly as the team scurried on after him, the guards on the interior side of the Audience Hall opened the doors, lowering their heads respectively to the acting-king as he strolled past them.

_Where is he taking us?_ Brett wondered.

Aaron led them to a more-heavily guarded chamber, where six men were stationed in front of the door.

"Your Majesty," they greeted in union, bowing slightly.

He dipped his head in acknowledgement. "We would like to enter," he said.

Moving aside, Aaron used magic to open the double doors, leading into a dark, winding staircase. After they had all passed through the door, it instantly closed behind them. Magic blue flames sparked alongside the torches hanging along the wall down the spiralling staircase until they reached the base which was a room, with tall stands of undying blue flames burned on the four corners of the body resting on the plush glass case.

Josh gasped. It was Emma who lay inside, her dress pure white, a silver aura flickering around her like a second skin. Her hands were folded over one another on her chest, a small white bouquet of white flowers clutched in between her hands.

_No!_ Josh thought in utter shock, _I-It can't be!_

"Joshua Kirkpatrick, because of your reckless decision to place all our lives in danger, as well as the Princess' decision to help the Hendricks siblings and myself, _this_ is the result of it. Emma has not awaken yet since she first fell asleep three days ago," Aaron announced sadly, his eyes filled with pain and grief as he gazed at his sister's sleeping body.

Yoko glanced over at the prince with pitying and sudden-understanding eyes. "So is this why you were so hard on Josh the other day? Because you knew it would lead to something like this?" she guessed quietly.

"Yes," he answered definitely. "It is undetermined when she will awake; perhaps in the next few months, years, decades, millennia's. In any case, if she _does_ awake in decades or even possibly a millennia, she'll be all alone. With her fragile heart, she'll want to die within moments of waking up. The first time it happened when she saved Prince Elliot's life several years ago when they were still young, I never wanted to think about something like that again. But now… the fear of that rises once more."

Brett looked at him, his voice quiet. "I don't think Prince Elliot took it well either, did he…" he guessed quietly.

Aaron's eyes were filled with pain before he squeezed them shut tightly, twisting away. "After Elliot had mostly recovered from the near-fatal wounds he had received, he stayed by Emma's side until she woke. He felt so guilty and responsible for placing her in that sleep, because she had done it to save his life. She was asleep for two weeks," he explained. "I never wanted the past to repeat itself, but it has… I'm just not sure how long it'll take for her to wake _this_ time."

Josh quietly dared to approach the sleeping princess, his hand reaching out to touch the glass. "Emma…" he whispered.

His emotions and feelings were so strong that his hand passed through the glass until he touched Emma's pale cheek.

"Please… Emma…. Wake up…." He murmured. "I'm so sorry…."

The glass casing suddenly faded away, and Josh kneeled down to touch her lips with his before pressing his forehead to hers.

A light flashed between them before Josh vanished.

"Josh!" Brett and Yoko gasped, Fluffy barking in worry.

"It's alright…" Aaron assured. "Josh has entered Emma's mind. Elliot did that too, but only when it was the second-last day before she awoke. Emma is one of the others Josh needs to apologize to the most. Once they are done their conversation, he will return soon. In the meantime, all we can do now is wait."

- - -

"W-Where am I?" Josh inquired of no one in particular. One moment he was in the dark chamber where Emma's body was being held, and the next thing he knew, he was in an all-too familiar room. It was the same room where they had found Emma after being separated the first time they travelled to Alasparx. There was no sign of the young woman, but he heard the sound of movement from the bathroom.

Sitting down on the bed, he waited until he heard the click of the doorknob before Emma stepped out, drying her hair off with a towel as she wore a white tank-top and white sleek pants. Taking one look at Josh, she stopped momentarily before continuing to dry her hair.

"Oh… it's _you_…" she commented crudely, using magic to return her towel to the bathroom to hang dry. Then she used her powers to dry her hair completely, her hair warm and soft to the touch.

"Emma, I'm so sorry…" Joshua apologized immediately.

She stared hard at him, her arms crossing over one another as she analyzed him like her brother did.

"I never meant for you to get hurt," he continued. "Believe me, I never meant for anything like that to happen to you. All I really wanted to do was to try and help you."

She sighed in defeat, walking over to her closet. "I know you are," she replied. "And I forgive you. When you get back, you can tell my brother not to fear; I'll be awake in a few minutes after you leave here." She took out white imperial robes, slipping them on and tying the ribbon to final the binds.

The next thing Emma knew, Josh had wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, his chest pressing against her back as he buried his face in her hair.

"Emma, I'm so, so sorry," he apologized gravely.

She turned in his arms, reaching up to kiss him, her arms snaking around his neck to twine in his hair as his wound around her waist.

"I accept your apology," she whispered into his ear, pulling back and smiling at him. "Now that that's settled, we need to talk about other matters."

"Like what?" he inquired, moving to sit down on her bed while pulling her hands with him, tugging her down next to him.

She touched his face, caressing his cheek gently in her hand. "About you," she said. "How do you feel right now?"

He gulped. He hadn't really paid any attention to himself over the past two days has he had been worrying constantly about Emma. "Well… relieved," he breathed in admittance. "I thought you would hate me after what happened with the Leviathan and all."

The Twilight Princess chuckled. "Oh Josh," she sighed in amusement, "I could never hate you. You're special to me."

"I love you," he whispered, pulling her tightly against his chest. "I love you so much."

She smiled, her cheek pressed against the soft fabric of his shirt. "I love you too Josh," she retorted back. "Now… are you injured at all? I was worrying so much about the others that I forgot about you."

He shook his head. "I'm fine, and so are the others."

Emma sighed in relief. "That's good to hear," she said, pulling back from his embrace. "We have to end this war soon, or else more people are going to get hurt."

"I don't want to see you injured again," Josh agreed, finding her hand in his as he squeezed tightly.

She smiled softly, her eyes sad. "And I don't want to see _you_ injured either," she retorted. "Now… I'll help you exit my mind, then you'll return back to wherever you are with my body. Remind my brother that I'll wake in a few minutes after you leave, and then we'll discuss further plans from there to stop Chris."

He nodded. He now realized what he _really_ had to do. "I love you," he whispered gently, leaning forward to kiss her once more before standing up.

She stood up beside him, and took both of his hands in hers. "I love you too," she replied back with a beautiful smile before she closed her eyes, her hair floating around her.

Josh really loved her, and he never wanted to see her expression in any other way other than how he saw it then, her eyes sparkling with happiness while a mask of beauty was on her face. He had never truly felt as strongly for anyone as he did her. He wasn't willing to see her go through anymore pain; not anymore.

Closing his own eyes, he felt magic surround him before he suddenly found himself back in the room with Aaron, Yoko and Brett.

"Hey, you're back," Brett said.

"So how'd it go with Emma?" Yoko inquired. "Is she still mad at you?"

The leader shook his head. "She's no longer mad at me," she informed, looking at Aaron. "She told me to tell you that she would be awakening soon after I came back."

"Excellent," Aaron sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."

Not long afterwards, Josh began to head to the stairwell back up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Brett inquired. "Aren't you going to wait until Emma wakes up?"

Josh didn't respond verbally, but in his mind, he answered, _I'm going to end this…_

- - - -

After Josh had escaped the view of his friends, he focused his magic to cause him to teleport to the Hornet.

"Emma… I'm sorry, but I have to do this," he murmured, strapping in before taking off, flying to his destination: Veralix. It was time to end the war, once and for all.

* * *

**Well... I hope you liked this chapter. The story is reaching it's climax, so I hope you like the next chapter when I post it up.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	21. An Untimely Fate

**Ooh! The story is reaching it's dramatic climax! I hope you like it!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: An Untimely Fate

"I wonder where Josh is going?" Yoko wondered.

"Hmmm…" Aaron murmured, pondering the thought for a moment before there was a slight stir from Emma's body, along with a silent groan. "Emma!"

As the three of them hurried to her side, she slowly awoke, her eyes blinking open as she gazed up at her brother and friends.

"Morning, guys," she greeted with a yawn, rubbing at her eyes before chuckling. "Just kidding."

"I'm glad you're alright," Aaron sighed with relief, hugging his sister tightly.

"Me too," she agreed with a smile, hugging him back. Looking around, she asked, "Where's Josh?"

"I don't know," Brett told her, "after he came back he just left."

Closing her eyes, she extended her magic all around the planet, reaching through the minds and sights of the animals all over the place, trying to see where the marshal was. But he was nowhere on the planet to be found.

"Dammit," she swore, jumping up to her feet. "We've got to go after him, he's gone to Veralix to confront Chris! We've got to stop him before he gets himself killed!"

- - - -

"Ugh… I never like coming to this place," Josh groaned quietly, annoyed at the fact that the last time he had gone to Veralix, his girlfriend was nearly forced to marry their enemy.

Sneaking quietly around, he used magic to make himself invisible, and headed towards the large castle, managing to sneak through undiscovered for the first 2 floors of the 5 floors of the castle.

_Hmmm… it's a little too quiet,_ Josh thought, _shouldn't these guards be at least a little smarter?_

But suddenly, he felt a blast impact his chest as he was thrown across the light ashen-coloured marble floor, his invisibility magic disrupted as his opponent stepped out from behind one of the many tall stone pillars. It was Chris.

"I'm impressed you managed to make it through this far without being discovered by any of my guards," he commented. "Of course, there is still a lot you must learn. I've always known that you have been here ever since you stepped foot into this castle. I just thought it would be fun to confront you myself."

Josh gritted his teeth, angrily flicking his palms towards him, and two bolts of lightning shot from them, where Chris blocked them easily before retaliating with a huge ball of fire.

Instantly, Josh reacted with a water ball, entering the heart of the fireball before exploding into steam.

"Impressive," Chris noted. "Your magical abilities have grown."

Josh cracked a grin, displaying his at-times cocky attitude. But this led him to waver from his concentration, right as Chris vanished and reappeared behind him.

"But not well enough," he finished, blasting Josh in the back with a powerful ball of blue flame.

The marshal went sprawling to the ashen-marbled floor, his back singed and slightly smoking from the attack. He wasn't moving…

- - - -

Emma was more than pissed that Josh had gone off on his own to defeat the Veralix ruler all by himself. It was just beyond stupidity; he was practically insane if he thought that he could defeat Chris all by himself. Maybe with some help, yes, but by himself, crazy!

Immediately, Emma, Aaron, Yoko and Brett had taken one of Alphasparx's spacecrafts and quickly sped off to Veralix. They had discovered and landed by the Hornet, where they found it deserted, with Josh nowhere to be seen.

"He's probably already in the castle by now," Emma growled in anger, her azure eyes blazing with ice cold fire. Her white dress blew around her legs. She had not bothered to change into something more appropriate. With a blaze of white magic, her sword appeared in her hand, and she dashed off, Aaron, Yoko and Brett following while Fluffy stayed with the Hornet in case the team got into any sort of tight situations.

Without bothering to conceal themselves in any way, they fought their way past the guards towards the castle, where they found trouble at the entrance. They were completely surrounded.

"Ugh, I don't have _time_ for this!" Emma hissed impatiently.

"Go!" Aaron ordered. "Yoko, Brett and I will hold these guys off. _You_ need to go help Josh out. Chris will at _least_ hesitate to hurt you because of his feelings for you, so that may work to your advantage."

She turned to him, horror in her eyes. "But Aaron, you guys can't fight off all these guys by yourself!"

"_Go!_" he howled, a dark blue aura rising from him as he began fierce concentration on his magic.

Giving Yoko and Brett a brief nod, Emma leaped over, on top, and around the guards guarding the entrance, beginning to fight her way to where Josh was. Now all she was hoping was that she wasn't too late…

- - - -

"Ugh…" Josh moaned, fluttering open his eyes to find himself lying on the ground on his stomach, Chris taking slow steps towards him. His cheek pressed against the cool marble, and he felt a strong burn shoot through his spine. His back ached, and he went on his hands and knees, feeling shocks of pain shoot up through his back.

"Heh, you really _are_ pitiful," Chris chuckled evilly. "Are you sure Princess Emma didn't just date you because she felt _sorry_ for you?"

Josh growled. "Emma isn't _shallow_," he hissed, leaping in defence of his girlfriend. "Are _you_ sure you didn't fall in love with her because she's beautiful? Maybe _you're_ the shallow one!"

Chris stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes. "I fell in love with Emma because of her beauty; in heart, mind, and body. Her pureness makes me feel complete. She is a flower of rare beauty," he explained. "Princess Emma has _always_ been beautiful. I have been in love with her since the day I first lay eyes on her. Then that damn Prince Elliot interfered, winning her heart and her love that was rightfully _mine_."

"But you _killed_ him!" Josh snapped. "And that _destroyed_ Emma's life!"

The sorcerer shook his head. "He allowed himself to die in her place," he said, "the bitter fool. He allowed himself to get killed… all in the name of 'love'. Is it not 'love' that I fought and kidnapped fair Princess Emma? Is it not 'love' that drives her to come kill me, even now? Is it not 'love' that _you_ are prepared to die for?"

In his fury, Josh leapt to his feet, ignoring the searing pain in his back before throwing a huge ball of swirling elements at Chris, which exploded before it touched him, filling the room with dark smoke. Soon enough, the smoke cleared, and Chris held a long silver bow, a quiver of white arrows on his back.

"Poor Princess Emma will have to endure more heartbreak, I suppose," Chris sighed, pulling an arrow and knocking it on, pulling the string back and aiming at Josh.

Josh shot a ball of fire at the sorcerer, and Chris released the arrow, the arrowhead piercing through the magic and Josh felt an immense pain on his shoulder. Looking down, he saw that the arrow had just nicked his shoulder, while his magic fireball had been dispersed.

"W-What just happened?" he breathed in shock.

Chris chuckled. "My bow enables these arrows to dispel _any_ magic you may throw at me, or try to defend yourself with," he revealed. "Plus, if these arrowheads sear through your flesh, for a long duration you cannot heal yourself with magic, nor can anyone else heal you either. If it lands a fatal blow, the arrow will turn to smoke and vanish. Therefore… your magic is _useless_. And this time… I _won't miss…_"

Josh shook his head furiously. That had to be impossible. He was the _Alphaspark._ That had to mean _something_, right? Wasn't he able to counter Chris' dispelling magic? He had to _try_. Focusing hard, he summoned a ball of red flame, which burned brightly to transform into a ball of lapping blue flames.

"Impressive," Chris laughed, fluently knocking his next arrow. "The blue flames of determination. That won't do you any good _here_." He took careful aim at Josh's chest. "Now die."

Right as Josh released the fireball, Chris released his arrow. All of Josh's instincts told him to run, but he stood his ground, even as he saw the end of the arrowhead pierce through the center of his fireball. Knowing there wasn't much time to move, Josh closed his eyes.

_I'm sorry, Emma…_ he thought sadly.

There was a _swoosh_ of air and a gasp, and Josh suddenly realized that he was no longer alone… someone was pressed up against his chest, warm, familiar hands pressing on his shoulders. Josh heard Chris gasp with surprise and shock too, so he opened his eyes… and found Princess Emma Stiles of Alasparx standing in front of him… an arrow buried deep in her back…

Josh's eyes widened in surprised as he breathed quietly, "E-Emma?"

* * *

**OMG DRAMATIC! Will she live?! WIll she die?! Find out next time!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!! **


	22. The Prophecy's Fulfillment

**Well... it's been FAR too long since I've last updated. Then again... been busy with other fanfics as well as school. ahaha. Anyhow, this chapter has been delayed for just too long. **

**PLEASE ENJOY! Warning: EXTREME SADNESS in this chapter!**

**PLEASE R&R! ( I didn't get any critique on the last chapter. *sobs*)**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Prophecy's Fulfillment

"N-No!" Josh screamed, as Emma's arms weakly reached up to wrap around his neck before she collapsed against him, her eyes fluttering as a bloody red rose began to blossom from the centre of the wound.

"E-Emma…" Christopher whispered in horror as he held a broken bow. Without hesitation, Emma had thrown her enchanted sword to cut through the silver bow before throwing herself in front of Josh, taking the arrow herself.

Josh grabbed her, holding her close against him. The arrow had buried itself deeply in her back, piercing through the inner regions of her heart. There wasn't much time left…

"Emma! Emma!" he shouted as he watched the arrow dissipate into smoke. That could have only meant one thing; Emma had been fatally wounded.

As he lowered her body to the ground, in Chris' horror he quickly made his escape and vanished to the 5th and last floor, leaving Josh and Emma alone.

"J-Josh…" Emma rasped weakly, feeling her blood begin to run cold.

"Emma, please, you can't die," Josh begged quietly, tears streaming freely from his blue orbs. "T-This is all my fault."

Sad azure eyes met his, and she whispered, "W-Why… didn't you wait… for me? Why… did you confront… Chris… alone?"

Swallowing hard, he answered, "I thought I could defeat him, I thought I could end your pain."

Emma fought to keep her eyes open, but as each moment passed, she found it harder and harder. Blood leaked from her chest, soaking into the white fabric of her dress. "Yeah…" she muttered. "I suppose… that _this_… counts as ending… my pain… but… I don't blame you…"

"Emma, please, I'm so, so sorry," he wept. "I never meant for anyone to get hurt, _especially_ you."

She smiled weakly. "I _did_… tell you that… I would protect you… with my own life…" she reminded.

He scrunched his eyes closed tightly, the tears falling like endless waterfalls down his face. "T-This is all my fault."

"So I guess… the prophecy really came true…" she murmured. "One of royal blood will die to save another…"

Josh shook his head furiously. "No, no, no," he moaned, tears flying from his eyes. "I won't let you die! You can't leave me, Emma! I love you so much!"

Weakly, she smiled, her hand reaching up to touch his cheek, which he followed to press it against his cheek tightly. "I love you too…" she whispered softly. "I'm sorry… I won't be there… when you defeat Chris… and win…"

"Emma, please," Josh begged, his voice cracking with emotion as tears blurred his vision of the beautiful princess' face, "you can't leave me." Squeezing his eyes tightly, he leaned down to kiss her hard on the lips, where he tasted the metallic taste of blood. He pressed a hand against her chest, against the wound, but he could not find his concentration, and already Chris' words echoed through his head.

_Cannot heal with magic… Cannot heal with magic…_

"Josh…" Emma breathed. "T-This is goodbye… I-I love you… J-Joshua… Kirkpatrick…"

"N-No, E-Emma…" he breathed, his eyes widening as her eyes began to close. "You can't leave me! I love you!"

Weakly, she smiled. "I love you too…" she breathed with her final, dying breath.

As her last breath deserted her, the light faded from her azure eyes before they slipped close, her head tilting limply towards his chest. Her hand slipped from his grip against his cheek and dropped lifelessly to the marble floor. Emma was dead… and it was all Josh's fault.

"No, no, no!" Josh cried, hugging Emma's corpse against him as he wept bitterly for the only girl he had ever truly given his heart to. "Emma! EMMA! You can't leave me! You can't die!"

But the girl was already gone, and a dark atmosphere of death and loneliness engulfed the area.

"EMMA!" he screamed, the pain and all-too-fresh loss echoing throughout the entire castle.

His body was racked with sobs as he wept against Emma's neck, feeling her skin grow colder and colder in his arms. He had made the wrong decision not following his instincts, and as a result there was a terrible price to be paid; the death of the only girl he would ever love.

"E-Emma…" Josh sobbed brokenheartedly. "I-I'm so sorry."

Even in death, she looked so beautiful, even as the red blood continued to spread and stain her pure white dress. Her warm blood soaked into his own shirt, but he didn't care, or even took notice of it. The only thing that was imprinted in his mind was that he had killed the love of his life.

Lost in his grief and sense of loss, he didn't hear footsteps as Aaron, Yoko and Brett arrived on the 3rd floor, immediately alarmed at the smell of blood and the dark brooding atmosphere that radiated death.

"Josh! Emma! Where are you?" Aaron shouted in panic, but only sobs and broken cries answered him. Immediately, fear struck his heart as he felt something was wrong.

"Josh?" Yoko and Brett gasped, hearing his cries of pain and anguish, the three of them running towards the source.

The moment they saw Emma's pale body in the marshal's arms, the tears streaming non-stop down Josh's face, and the blood pooling underneath the couple, Aaron's heart sank as his suspicions were confirmed.

"N-No… no… NOO!" Aaron screamed, dropping to his knees beside them and shaking Emma's shoulder desperately. "Emma! Please, wake up! Emma!"

"Emma! Emma!" Yoko and Brett cried desperately, dropping next to their comrades.

All of them shouted the beautiful princess' name… but to no avail did their cries reach her. The girl was already long gone…

"Dammit Josh!" Aaron shouted angrily. "How did this happen? I thought you were supposed to protect her!"

"T-This is… a-all my fault!" Josh sobbed. "I-I should have been able to protect her! I-I should have prevented this!"

Aaron's eyes burned red as his anger and grief over the loss of his beloved sister began to take over him. "This is all your fault!" he screamed, his aura rising into lapping flames around him. "If you hadn't have come here alone, Emma would still be alive! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!"

But Josh didn't care, holding Emma's limp body closer to him. After all, Aaron was completely correct: If Josh didn't go to Veralix without the others, Emma wouldn't have died saving his life.

"Josh!" Brett cried, "How could you have been so stupid?"

"It's not fair Emma had to die!" Yoko wailed.

"Damn you, Kirkpatrick," Aaron swore as he wrenched Emma from Josh's arms and into his own. "I hope that Emma's death will haunt you for the rest of your damn life! Her blood will stain your hands for all eternity!"

"No!" Josh cried, his bloodied clothes transforming into his regular clothes through magic. "N-No! E-Emma can't be dead!"

"Well she is!" Aaron shouted, "She is! And it's all because of _you_!"

"NO!" He sobbed, "I _will_ avenge her! _I will_!"

Blinded in his fury and grief, he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly before using magic to make Emma's sword appear in his other hand. Immediately he began to run towards the next floor, leaving the others to grieve for their lost princess and dear friend.

_This is all my fault!_ Josh screamed in his head. _I should have been able to protect her! I shouldn't have let her die! I could have done something!_

Wiping away his tears, Josh sniffed as he ran up the staircase towards his enemy.

_I _will_ avenge you!_ He swore in his head, _I will get my revenge! Dammit Emma! I'm sorry!_

_xXxXx_

_Emma opened her eyes, feeling no pain of the wound that was. She found herself lying on the ground in a white, plain, shapeless world. Looking down at herself, she was wearing the beautiful white dress that she was in when she died saving Josh's life, except… there was no blood; no wound. _

_"W-Where am I?" she murmured to herself as she sat up, feeling incredibly lonely. "Is there truly no life after death?"_

_Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and a familiar voice responded, "My, my, Emma, do you have that little faith in me? I promised that I would always watch over you, didn't I?"_

_Shielding her eyes from the light, she gasped, "E-Elliot? I-Is it really you?"_

_A figure stepped from the light, and suddenly the light didn't seem as bad as it was, and Emma dared to look towards the figure, only to see her deceased fiancé, Prince Elliot James Richardson, standing before her. He was wearing imperial robes of Alasparx, with the exception that they were all pure silky white, and he looked older. _

_"It's good to finally be able to speak with you again, Princess Emma," he said with a gentle smile, offering out his hand to her. _

_"Elliot!" Emma exclaimed in joy, leaping up to throw her arms around her ex-fiancé's neck as his wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly. "I missed you so much!" _

_He smiled as he unw__ound__ her arms around his neck as he looked at her. "I know you have," he said. "But I'm happy that you were able to move on after my death. I'm glad you found Joshua." _

_She bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But… I can't be with him anymore though. We no longer live in the same world."_

_He smiled, caressing her cheek with his hand as he brushed away forming tears. "Shhh…" he hushed. "It's alright. You don't need to hurt anymore." He kissed her on the cheek as he turned her towards the light, wrapping an arm around her waist, pressing his lips against her hair, right above her ear. He smiled, whispering, "It's time to come home."_

_

* * *

_

**Awww... that's so sad. Emma died... *cries* I hope you guys liked that chapter (even though it was sad). Will Josh be able to get his revenge? Find out in the next chapter!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE!**


	23. The Final Showdown

**Ugh, prolonged WAYYY too long. I thought since I was almost reaching the end I may as well finish this fic ASAP. So here's the next chapter! **

**Enjoy!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Final Showdown

Josh was mad. Words could not even describe how angry he was. Emperor Christopher Reynolds had murdered Princess Emma Stiles of Alasparx, and Josh was blind with revenge. He ran up the stairs towards the 5th and final floor where Chris was waiting.

_I _will_ avenge your death,_ he thought in determination. _I won't let your sacrifice go to waste. I'm so sorry that I've allowed you to die._

Arriving on the white marbled floor, the huge walls of light blues and creamy creams and whites, Josh's rage-filled eyes searched the area for the one that had caused his girlfriend's death.

"Where are you?" he screamed in anger.

But suddenly he felt his mind being whisked away to somewhere else. Even though in body he was standing on the 5th floor of the Veralix castle, his mind was standing in a plain, shapeless world.

"Where am I?" Josh demanded, still lost in his anguish and loss.

A ball of light flew up in front of him.

_"Josh… you're losing yourself,"_ a soft voice that sounded like Emma's chided. _"You can't fight like this in the final battle against Chris."_

"E-Emma?" Josh choked, grateful and surprised to hear the sound of the princess' soft voice again. "I-Is it really your voice?"

"_It is,"_ she responded. _"I'm here to serve as your final conscience and voice before this final battle. Josh… when you fight against Chris, you must keep a clear head. Think of the calm and clear pool that I taught you to visualize. This battle will decide the fate of many, many lives on three planets. You _must_ not fail, Josh. Alasparx, Veralix, and Earth all depend on _you._ I know you won't let me down, Josh."_

"I-I let you die," Josh choked, "It's all my fault. If only I had waited for the rest of you guys, then you wouldn't have to save my life."

_"Now is not the time to muse about these things,"_ Emma's voice told him in a stern voice. _"What's done is done, there is no use wishing you could change your past. All that matters now is what you're going to do with your life _now, _in _this_ moment that you are living in. I never blamed you for my death."_

He looked down. "But I've always blamed myself for your death…" he said.

The ball shimmered into Emma's ghostly form, and she smiled at him. _"I love you, Josh,"_ she told him affectionately. _"I will always love you. You need not regret your decisions. I do admit I wish I could be with you, but I'm content. All that I only want left is for you to be happy, and that my kingdom can finally be set free. And I can only entrust that mission to _you_, Josh."_

The 16-year-old marshal looked up at her, tears falling from his eyes. "But Emma, I-"

Tenderly, she leaned forward to place a ghost kiss on his mouth, cutting him off. _"I've never blamed you, Joshua…"_ she told him, her eyes meeting his as a soft smile touched her lips while her pale, transparent hand went to cradle his cheek. "_I will miss you, Josh. Good luck, and never give up hope. I promise I'll be there when you need me. I'll watch over you, now, and forever."_

Closing her eyes, Emma's image faded and only the wisp remained. But as quickly as it came, the wisp vanished, and Josh closed his eyes, finding himself standing in the Veralix castle once more upon the 5th floor, not another soul to be seen.

"Where are you, Christopher Richands?" he screeched angrily.

"I-I never meant…" a voice breathed quietly. "Emma… I-I didn't think… I never wanted…"

Josh ran towards the voice, and found the Veralix ruler leaning against his throne, his eyes wide with horror and grief.

"You murderer!" Josh scowled, his sword poised at his side.

"NO!" Chris snapped. "I didn't mean to… I never meant to… I didn't know…"

"You _killed_ her!" he screamed, dashing forwards with his sword raised.

Easily the ruler used magic to block the advance, sending him back. "I never meant to kill her!" he shouted. "I-I had no idea she would protect you! I-I didn't know she was even _there_! I kept telling myself that… I didn't love her. I only saw her as my tool… my key to get the kingdom of Alasparx… but… when I saw her get fatally injured; when I felt her presence and spirit disappear… something in me broke. I _truly_ loved her."

"It doesn't change the fact that you _killed _her!" Josh yelled at her. "I can't believe you wanted to use her in the first place. She was someone precious to a lot of people." _Including me,_ he added silently. But he knew very well that there was nothing he could do to bring back the dead nor correct the past… only move on and take revenge on the man who had caused this terrible tragedy.

The two of them exchanged and parried blows, blows of magic here and there, turning the entire throne room into a battlefield as sparks of fires of various incandescent colours burst. The smoke began to engulf the place as Josh's anger and determination grew. Focusing all of his magic on a single point, he screamed out his anger as tears fell from his eyes as he channelled his loss into his power, and a plasma bolt appeared in hands before he sent it flying at Chris. At the same time, Chris had launched a huge ball of water and electricity at Josh too! Right as Aaron, Yoko and Brett arrived, there was a huge explosion as smoke blew through the area, the survivors of the battle cloaked by the smoky mist.

"JOSH!" Yoko and Brett cried.

"Damn," Aaron swore under his breath. Emma had entrusted him with protecting the Alphaspark in her stead, but if Josh had died in this ensuing battle, then Aaron would have failed…

As the smoke finally began to clear away, Joshua Kirkpatrick stood alone by the throne. Christopher Reynolds was nowhere to be seen, but the shimmering blue brooch that he had been often seen with lay lonely on the white floor. Josh panted tiredly as there were cuts and burns all over him, and immediately the trio ran over to him.

"Josh! You did it!" Brett cheered ecstatically.

Josh blinked. It was finally over, the battle had been won. Christopher was gone, and both Veralix and Alasparx had been freed. But even though the marshals had one, their victory had come at a terrible price: the death of a beloved princess and friend.

Josh dropped his sword, tears coming to his eyes as he fell to his hands and knees.

"Josh! Are you okay?" Yoko exclaimed as they reached his side.

He wasn't hurt too badly, but he didn't appear to hear them as he was grieving in his own little world.

"I-I did it, Emma," he wept, his tears falling onto the cold stone floor. "I avenged your death. I did as you asked: I freed Alasparx. I beat Christopher. I-I did it… but I only wish you never had to leave me…"

Suddenly, a bright light flashed in front of them and they gasped in horrific wonder.

"Emma!" Aaron exhaled in disbelief.

Immediately Josh's head snapped up, and he saw Emma's ghostly figure standing before him in an elegant white dress, a transparent white scarf draped over her shoulder and arms. Dangling crystal earrings jingled on her ears, and beautiful white crystal slippers cradled her feet. A white aura shone brightly around her.

"E-Emma?" Josh breathed in awe.

Her kind smile reached her eyes, and she turned her head back as another figure stepped out from a bright light. It was a young man who looked a few years older than Emma herself. He had gorgeous green eyes and soft brown hair. He was dressed in the Alasparx imperial garbs, except that they were all white. He moved to stand beside Emma.

"P-Prince Elliot?" Aaron exclaimed in surprise, "Is it really you?"

The noble prince smiled and nodded, looking down at Emma beside him. She smiled and looked directly at Josh as he stood up.

"You've fulfilled the prophecy," she said softly, an echo to her soft, chime-like voice. "You've saved us all."

"I let you die," he argued bitterly.

She smiled again. "You had no choice," she retorted, "and I don't blame you for what happened to me. So there's no need for you to blame yourself either."

"B-But, b-but," he began in a stammer, but she cut him off by placing two aura-surrounded fingers on his lips.

"Shhh…" she hushed, "it's alright now. I'm not hurting anymore." She looked at her elder brother. "Aaron, you shouldn't blame Josh for what happened to me. My death was prophesied, and it came true. This was inevitable. We both knew this would happen."

Prince Elliot smiled at Josh. "Thank you for taking care of my former fiancée," he thanked gratefully. "I've been watching over her for a long time, but I've been unable to make contact with her. I'm glad she's been able to move on since my death."

Emma smiled gently at her brother and her friends. "I came back to say goodbye," she informed them.

"Y-You can't stay?" Yoko chirped brokenly.

She shook her head. "I'm already dead. There's no place for spirits in the living world. I'm afraid that Elliot and I have to return to the spirit world," she explained. "I love you guys, truly, I do. Farewell."

Both she and Elliot began to fade, and tears sprung from the team's eyes.

"Please, don't go," Josh choked. "I need you here with me. It's my fault you died."

Her smile widened, placing a fading hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry for causing you pain Josh, but you don't need to feel sorry anymore. I'm not hurting anymore, so there's no reason why you should either." Very softly, she leaned forward to give him a ghostly kiss before pulling back, floating in mid-air as Prince Elliot floated beside her, waving easily at them.

"It was nice to finally be able to speak with you guys," he said. "Rest assured, Josh, I'll take good care of Emma."

"I love you, Josh," Emma told him. "This is goodbye, but take good care of yourself, 'kay?"

Tears overflowed his eyes and streamed down his dirty face as he directed a small painful smile at her. "I'm never going to forget you, Emma Stiles."

"I'll never forget you either," she said softly as tears glimmered in her gorgeous azure eyes, "Alphaspark Joshua Kirkpatrick. I love you, and farewell."

Both Alasparx royalties vanished, and a sense of loneliness tore through Josh as his one and only love vanished forever.

Brett broke out into huge tears and wails as he cried loudly, "Now what do we do? Emma's _gone_!"

Aaron sniffed, wiping away his own tears. "Rebuild," he answered. "This long war is finally over. Restoration of both Alasparx and Veralix will begin, and we will all now have time to grieve and bury our dead. Emma's funeral will probably be in the next few days, and I'm sure that she'd appreciate it if the three of you stayed for it."

The team nodded. Their true final farewell to the beloved princess of Alasparx had yet to begin…

* * *

**Obviously this fic still isn't over yet. There's still the funeral, aftermath, etc. **

**Btw, do you guys HONESTLY think Josh is going to be giving Emma up that easily? *hint, hint, wink***

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	24. Never Want to Say Goodbye

**Well, there weren't many chapters left, so I thought I'd finish this. :D Plus, it doesn't help that I've lost interest too. lol. If you've stuck with me since the beginning of this fanfic, thanks! I was initially planning to make a sequel, but because of my uninterest, I've decided to pass on that. lol. **

**Either way, enjoy!**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon**  
**Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four: Never Want to Say Goodbye

A couple days had passed by peacefully. The funeral arrangements for Emma had already been prepared as the world of Alasparx grieved for the loss of their beloved princess. Blue flowers had been placed around the kingdom, and the maids had taken care when they were cleaning and preparing Emma's body for proper burial.

Now Aaron, Brett, Yoko and Josh would be given their private moments with Emma to say goodbye before she would be placed in a glass coffin before the procession to her burial site would begin.

xXx

Aaron sat on his sister's bedside. Beautiful tiny azure flowers had been sewn into her lightly braided hair, her bangs framing the delicate face. He stroked her soft, cold cheek, feeling a similar cooling heartache in his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Emma," he apologized, bowing his head. "Even though we both knew that this was coming, I couldn't adequately prepare for this… but then again, how could _any_ brother prepare for his little sister's impending death? I love you very much, Emma, and I've never been so proud of you."

He kept his silence for a moment before chuckling bitterly to himself. "Damn, I left that pause cause I was hoping you'd just open your eyes and scowl at me for being so cheesy," he admitted, feeling emptiness claw at him inside. He had already shed all the tears he could. Even when he tried… none would come. "You're really gone, aren't you, sis…"

xXx

Brett wept bitterly with what tears he had against the princess. The beautiful navy blue dress she was garbed in fit her gorgeously, the golden accents making her look all the more precious. There were no words that Brett could form out, only the broken cries and pains of sorrow.

"W-Why does fate have to be so cruel?" he wept, the rims of his eyes red and irritable with all his crying. "Emmaaaaa…"

xXx

Yoko was also very teary, but she was a little more composed than Brett, if only barely. She stroked Emma's hair, smoothed out her dress and blubbered about all the things they could have done together.

"I was so happy to have another female teammate," she mused tearfully. "I thought I'd finally be free from their stupid guy-talk. You left too soon, Emma! You're my best friend!"

xXx

At last, it was Josh's turn to say his final goodbyes. He sat by Emma's side, reaching for her hand.

"Emma…" he murmured. "Being the Alphaspark means nothing anymore without you here beside me, protecting me and guiding me along the way…"

He leaned over to place a very soft kiss upon her chilled lips. She looked as if she were only sleeping, her expression calm and peaceful.

"What can I do to bring you back?" he murmured, burying his face against her shoulder, hugging her body against him.

And that was when the idea hit him. Josh was the _Alphaspark_, the most powerful magic-user known to Alasparx and Veralix. That had to mean _something_.

_But could it be enough to bring a dead person back to life?_ He wondered before shaking off the negative thoughts. _I have to at least _try.

Immediately he focused all of his power into his hands as he placed them over Emma's ribs. Ever since the final confrontation with Chris, Josh had easily synchronized with his magic and the fierce depression over Emma's death had increased his concentration. Instantaneously, Josh's hands and Emma's body began to glow, radiating off a soft blue healing aura. Josh began to feel the true effects of the power drain ten minutes into the resurrection attempt, but he pushed on. It was all or nothing; either he'd get Emma back, or else he'd lose his power trying to.

_Come on, _he pleaded mentally. Closing his eyes, memories began to form before closed lids as his mind wandered to all the happy times they had spent together… That lazy afternoon in their sanctuary when Emma was still in ferret form… the moment Emma and Josh had confessed their feelings for each other… the sensation of learning magic for the first time from her…

These warm thoughts and memories cascaded a rainbow aura over Josh, opening up the pathways to the very extent of his magic as he channelled it into Emma's body, pushing the boundaries of his magical limits to their fullest as every will he had for Emma to return to him poured into the corpse.

_Please, Emma,_ he prayed in his mind, _please come back to me. You're needed by so many people. Me, Aaron, Yoko, Brett. We all still need you._

Finally, every drop of magic had been expelled from his body. That was it. Josh had given up all of his magic… he had given it all up in that final effort to try and bring back his one and only love. Sighing heavily, he collapsed on the bed, panting heavily as fatigue tugged at his consciousness. Emma Stiles still did not stir, yet… her cheeks seemed a little bit rosier than her former pale complexion.

_Emma…_ Josh thought before sleep claimed him.

xXx

Princess Emma Stiles opened her eyes moments later, alive and well before noticing that Josh lay asleep on her, his head resting on her lower torso. She smiled.

"Joshua," she whispered softly, patting him on the head. "You gave up all of your magical powers just to bring me back to life… thank you."

* * *

**Yes! She's alive! :D **

**Next (and finally) will be the short epilogue. :D**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	25. Epilogue: The Return

**Hope you guys liked this story! Please check out some of my other stories if you have time! :D**

**PLEASE R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Team Galaxy (c) Marathon  
Claimer: everything else (c) me**

* * *

Epilogue: The Return

Josh felt a calm warmth envelope him, and he opened his eyes to find Emma Stiles smiling at him, tears in her eyes.

"Josh," she breathed, "you brought me back."

Sitting up immediately in alert, he gazed at her, eyes wide. "I-Is this a dream?" he whispered, his voice filled with cracked emotion. "Are you really here, Emma?"

The princess smiled as the tears broke free, throwing her arms around him as she wept, "It's me, Josh. You did it."

All of a sudden, the door flew open before Prince Aaron Stiles burst in the room, Yoko and Brett close behind him. Seeing his sister alive and well, Aaron tackled her into a ferocious hug.

"Emma! You're alive!" he cried.

She nodded against him, hugging him tightly. "Josh gave up all his powers as the Alphaspark to bring me back," she explained.

Meanwhile Josh was tackled by Yoko and Brett, hugging their leader tightly.

"Josh you did it!" Yoko cheered.

"I thought I lost you forever," Aaron exhaled, fighting back tears of joy as his grip around Emma tightened.

She smiled. "I missed you too, big brother," she replied.

As both parties released them, Josh and Emma embraced, Josh inhaling her scent deeply.

"I love you, Emma," he whispered.

She snuggled against his chest. "I love you too, Josh," she said.

Staring into each other's eyes deeply, Josh leaned down and kissed her with fierce passion, and Emma welcomed it fully as her arms snaked around his neck. Pulling apart, she rested a hand on his chest.

"I will be with you, now… and forever."

THE END

* * *

**PLEASE REVIEWWWW! (after all, this IS the end of the story. :D)**


End file.
